Word of the week

Sir James Crosby, resigning Deputy Chairman of the FSA, has dominated the news agenda this week. PM Gordon Brown is now facing mounting criticism as it emerged he had knighted and positioned Crosby with the FSA and as a key government financial adviser. This was despite the fact that Crosby, whilst CEO of HBOS in 2005, had sacked senior risk manager, Paul Moore, over concerns that he voiced about the sustainability of the HBOS model – now nationalised by the government. With the Commons Select Committee holding grilling sessions on a weekly basis the recession seems to have descended into a blame game. Moore follows Robert Peston and Gordon Brown as claimants to the title of “I called the recession ages go, you idiots” whilst all quarters have got used to the tone of Mervyn King’s latest funeral dirge that confirmed a “deep recession”. Let’s hope someone finds the way to daylight soon to stop all this shouting in the dark.

Jack