Pedestal

Be careful who you put on it.

Walked past the "Occupy Edinburgh" camp site in St Andrew's Square today.

I've heard the full spectrum of "for" and "against" the Occupy Wall Street movement.

But, some things to remember (I will try to be apolitical as there are a lot of politics jumping on this band wagon)...

After the Wall Street crash of 1929, the Glass-Steagall act, named after the politicians who put it forward, was drawn up. It separated retail banking from risky investment banking.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton repealed the act.

It took less than 10 years for "expert" bankers to revert to the same behaviour that brought about the 1920's crash.

And then we all bailed them out.

Let's listen to the behaviour of one of these "experts" from this year (2011, post crash so should know better); the CEO of UBS a leading Swiss bank...

First half of 2011: Advised strongly against "excessively" bringing back a version of the Glass-Steagall act. It would be completely wrong to force banks to split retail from their "riskier" investment arms.

Early September 2011: A "rogue" trader at UBS loses over $2.3 Billion US Dollars. (remember that Nick Leeson lost $1.3 Billion).

Late September 2011: CEO of UBS starts the voluntary process of splitting "riskier" investment bank from their retail arm. (Ooops?)

Oh, and UK unemployment in October 2011 hit 2.57 million, the highest in over 17 years.

Oh, and in October 2011 an IDS report stated that UK Company's Director's pay rose by 50%.

Whatever you think about these people camped out in the cold and rain it's hard not to realise that some people are going to be very angry indeed.

But does anyone think anything will change?