Sir Evelyn de Rothschild
BBC
December 3, 2008
Sir Evelyn: "action has to be taken and action must be taken very soon".
Ethics - we have lost sight of an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.
Careful management - we have indulged our wants without the taxes or the prices or the cash to pay for them.
Oversight - public relations and spin have replaced disclosure and transparency; casual yet complex accounting and accommodating rating agencies left us blissfully unaware of the problems, and we revelled in our ignorance.
Hubris has replaced community responsibility as a requirement for executive positions.
American automobile executives and British bankers have been unable to form their lips into an apology.
Yet their institutions lie in ruins and the rest of us are left feeling embarrassed for them.