Last week’s reflections in this space on the subject of economic change reminded me of something my Japanese boss told me years ago in banking. “Change is good,” he said brightly.
I don’t remember exactly what that was about, but I’m pretty sure I had the contrary notion ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ in mind, feeling that whatever was coming had more to do with making a mark than making things better, a familiar trait of middle management.
His opinion might have been explained by his experience of coming up through the Japanese banking system, which certainly needed changing, seeming to be riddled with inertia, with failing institutions hiding (and being allowed to hide) their balance-sheet horrors for fear of the shockwaves if they actually revealed the true scale of their losses and vulnerability. A bit like the European banking sector right now, as it happens.
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