December 22, 2009

The storm may be raging about them, but bankers have been locked in a contest to say something truly silly. A year that began with a threatened collapse of the international financial system thus draws to a close with a reminder of why governments cannot again trust the future of their economies to the self-styled titans of finance.Until a few days ago Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs looked certain to take the prize. Mr Blankfein, readers will recall, declared that we must not be too hard on bankers because they were doing “God’s work”.

Later he protested that his words were spoken in jest. Humorously or otherwise, Goldman executives in London have taken to calling him God’s Banker.Now Stephen Hester, chief executive of Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland, has mounted a late bid for the trophy. The politicians who rescued the financial services industry, Mr Hester remarked the other day, should now hand it all back to those who caused the mess.