BRETTON WOODS II: GLOBAL CREDIT CRISIS SUMMIT
On November 15, leaders of 20 nations will convene to create a framework for stabilizing and rebuilding the world financial markets. The meeting is being called Bretton Woods II, after the historic meeting that set the stage for dollar hegemony after WWII. While the meeting is set to review and determine such things as the world reserve currency and world wide financial regulatory regimes, your average joe isn’t really talking about it. Dollar-shmaller, what does it matter? All I can say is wake up. WAKEUP!!
The ramifications of oil priced in Euros or any other currency are huge – and that is just the tip of the iceberg. When change comes, and rest assured it will, or this meeting would not be happening, there will LIKELY be major dislocations as the world digests the new paradigm. Whilst major politicos from Biden to Powell have suggested that there is a “major test” of the new president in the works in the very near future, and they have even gone so far as to name dates – though nobody will go so far as to say just what that test might be – this could be it.
In any case, consider new regulatory regimes. We could be talking about a restructuring of the entire financial services regulatory matrix. Folks, if you make your money in financial services, this is not just a matter of some obligation to another report. This could mean the complete restructuring of your business; new licenses, new regulation, different rules and regulations. We all know that old dogs can in fact learn new tricks. It just takes a bit more patience to teach them. Chances are that you, if you are reading this column, have been engaged in financial services for some time, and are a relative expert. How much patience have you got to see a complete re-definition of your business practice? You can hide your head in the sand as much as you like, but it doesn’t change a thing. You need to get involved. To start looking into and analyzing the potential changes. The point is that you cannot count on non-financial pros to get it right. Hell, you cannot even count on Financial Pros to do the right thing when faced with greed and self interest. But you can, if you have a conscience, assist in the process to make sure that what we wind up with isn’t orders of magnitude more burdensome and destructive. Have you ever dealt with SarBox? One can laugh and say that a camel is a horse made by committee – but it is no longer funny when you are the one that has to ride it. Wake Up. Get Interested. It’s only your entire life’s work that’s on the line.
How? Start by joining the SIPA now. The voice of 800,000 registered people must be heard, loud and clear/
