Even after more than five years of traumatic financial and economic crisis, Britain’s banks are often still presented as a source of national strength that must be shored up by taxpayers and protected by politicians, reads an article in the Guardian, Thu 30th May 2013.
But the claim that our outsized banking system is a prized national asset just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. True, the taxes paid by the financial sector in the boom years will probably just about cover the price tag for the bailout – but they don’t come close to meeting the other costs of the financial crisis, including the deepest recession in living memory.
