Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Life Follows Death
During his inaugural address, President Obama rightly reminded us that it is the risk takers that ensure a better tomorrow. Yet he paradoxically argued that the current economic slowdown is the fault of greed and the market needs a "watchful eye." One cannot have both. Risk takers have to fail; otherwise it would not be risk. Pointing to mistakes as evidence of too much risk, of a need to remove bad decisions, necessarily curtails the capacity to make the right ones. We cannot have growth without bankruptcy nor more than we can have evolution without extinction.
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3 comments:
You read an awful lot into the metaphorical phrase "watchful eye".
I hope so.
I have to disagree to an extent. "Risk takers have to fail; otherwise it would not be risk." The problem is our current economic climate was caused by people who took risks but did not accept the consequences. The companies they had to accept the consequences while the risk takers got golden parachutes. It's like if I took $100 from your wallet and went gambling. If I won, I got part (or all) of the money. If I loose, I've lost nothing while you're out $100.
That's what I think the President meant by "a watchful eye", to be sure those taking risks are the one who accepts responsibility for the failures.
Jason
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