Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The banker and the priest

Eighteen years ago this Friday the two German states were united. October 3 is a public holiday in Germany to celebrate the date of unification. Some refer to it as 're-unification'.

It happened as a result of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. 20 years ago the world saw the fall of communism. Is the world now experiencing the collapse of capitalism?

In the East German city of Görlitz in summer 1985 a Protestant priest commented to me that the GDR was in collapse and that it was just a matter of time before it was all over. At the time I did not believe him

That same year in discussion with a senior banker in Ireland I raised the question what if the bank - his bank - collapsed. I was told it was impossible. At the time I did not believe him.

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