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Business Daily: Eliot Spitzer

11/01/2010

Eliot Spitzer

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Spitzer talks about the next financial crisis, and his fall from grace.

The former governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer voices fears that there could be another credit crisis in future. He sees the new wave of US financial regulation as inadequate.

Eliot Spitzer is the regulator who dared to face up to the big guns of the financial universe when he was attorney general of New York.  He exposed the shadowy conflicts of interests which riddled investment banks and other institutions as no-one had done before.

This glowing reputation enhanced his political career in the Democratic Party. But it was trampled in the mud by the sleazy prostitution scandal, which forced him to resign as the governor of New York in 2008. He had to watch the drama of the credit crisis play out, powerless and in disgrace.  

Recently he has stuck his head above the parapet to comment on reforms of financial regulation. He has been a vocal critic of Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve and of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. 

He tells Business Daily that he fears there will be another crisis at some point, because US regulatory reform has not gone far enough.

And social psychologist Carole Tavris argues it is human nature to justify our mistaken decisions, as many bankers did after the crisis.

Plus Lucy Kellaway on why no-one ever talks about mental health problems at work.

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