One of the lessons of the present turmoil is the recognition of our interdependence upon each other. It is a lesson that is at odds with the mindset of speculative profiteering, but it is a lesson that bears repeating in times of crisis.
Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes I am. The impact of what happens with a sub-prime mortgage in America has an impact upon my brother employed in Newcastle working for Northern Rock.
Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes I am when speculation leads to mergers, with redundancies for thousands of my brothers and sisters.
Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes I am, because the systemic risk of allowing a bank to fail makes sense only when it is translated into the thousands of individual stories of hardship that flow from its collapse.