We should have learned a lesson on greed by now

March 14th, 2009 at 06:58pm Annette LaCross

In the general scheme of things, a little Monday-morning quarterbacking can be a useful, even necessary, tool.

Granted, few of us look forward to the boss (or worse, the spouse) saying something along the lines of “So, Ed, I’ve made a list of everything you did wrong yesterday, and …”

But when it comes to learning from our mistakes, few things teach us so well as history.

Take, for example, the nation’s 31st president.

For the past 70 years, Herbert Hoover’s response to the market meltdowns of the 1930s — higher taxes and interest rates, a Corporate America that was left to rise or fall (mostly fall) on its own — has been studied and debated and researched and probed, and in the end proclaimed an almost perfect example of what not to do.

So I found it amusing that Congress called everyone except my mom to Capitol Hill last week — most notably Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner — to give them a firm drubbing about the various bailout plans, particularly the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the way it is being administered.

Where’s the money? they blustered. No oversight! they thundered, threatening to withhold any more until someone gives a solid accounting of where the money went — and more importantly, it seems, who exactly is at fault for the recession that has gripped the economy.

They’re fairly certain, for example, that American International Group, which has received $180 billion from the TARP, bears some of the blame. Apparently, they now also want to know which AIG worker brought down the global economy.

Not that they don’t have a point. But it’s ultimately a fruitless, not to mention incredibly ill-timed, pursuit.

No doubt, Faithful Reader, you want to find whoever is to blame as much as the lawmakers. After all, there is something grimly satisfying in holding someone accountable. Besides, once we’ve identified the villain, we can all move on, safe in the knowledge that the Bad Guy has been caught.

I know I wouldn’t mind. But I also know it’s a primal reaction, a need for vengeance born in the reptilian part of my brain.

By giving in to that, I’d be no better than the financial geniuses who did the same thing, except their first reaction was greed. And we all know where that got us.

Contact Business Editor Annette LaCross at alacross@rrstar.com or 815-987-1295.

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