Banking reform – Southwold shows the way!

I see the FT on Monday morning was announcing that Britain had been “outgunned” on EU bank curbs – a proposal from the European Parliament to limit bankers’ bonuses to twice base salaries looked likely to go through. However, a visit to Southwold Pier on the east coast of England at the weekend showed an alternative approach to the banking crisis – one that so far seems to have escaped the notice of the Basel Committee, the EU, the Obama administration, and the Financial Stability Board.

The picture gives a clue – it’s simply a “whack the banker” pier game, where, putting your 40p in the slot, you get the pleasure of whacking bankers for 60 seconds, with an accompanying audio commentary about your role as a taxpayer in funding their pensions and bonuses.

Of course, this may be dangerous territory for Southwold, as one suspects that some of the mouth-watering property prices in the vicinity may owe just a tad to – yes, you’ve guessed it, bank bonuses!