Celebrating a year on since the, er… recession

(c) Tony the misfit

You may have seen the BBC advert concerning the anniversary of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers bank and subsequent economic relapse. You can even re-live the events on the internet. In the 24 hours since, thousands have flocked online, and countless more fled to the nearest Starbucks with a colleague to recall their memories.

“Ah, remember that time when we lost our jobs, our money and our wives left us…?”

“Sure do. Good times.”

The advert was similar in style to that of a Big Brother contestant’s highlights reel. I have images of what filming must have been like for the show. The dialogue between David Dimbleby and the recession itself goes something like this in my mind.

Dimbleby: “Well recession, you’ve been evicted, but before you go, let’s have a look at your best bits.”

Recession: “Yay!”

Dimbleby: “And I must ask this question to you, the toxic debts in the housing market, what was your personal highlight?”

Toxic debts: “The crash!”

Recession: “Yeah, the crash!! The crash!”

You’d think we were celebrating the anniversary of some major sporting event.  It seems somewhat perverse.

Recalling the events of the past is important, I know. History teaches us much. However, what history also teaches us is that you cannot learn the lessons of a mistake in its immediate aftermath – it takes years and years for the lessons of a recession to become apparent. This is the lesson of every major historical landmark.

After the end of the First World War, when the Allies had managed to defeat the Germans, what did they do? Well admittedly, it was mainly the French and Georges Pompidou, but they insisted that as the war had been caused by Germany, so the most logical thing to do would be to weaken it as far as possible. I mean, that wouldn’t lead to resentment by those who felt the Germans had as much of a right to an empire as those who’d defeated them, would it?

A mere ten years later and the Wall Street Crash brought the financial world to its knees. In the aftermath, the financial geniuses of the world embarked on protectionism, which of course drew the problem out longer. It was only years later that we realised that this was a mistake.

And the lesson of the Second World War? Link France and Germany financially so that war would never be logical for either to contemplate again. Where did this lesson come from? The aftermath of the First World War, hyperinflation and the occupation of the Ruhr.

So I again ask the question. Why do we have these shows on TV commemorating a year since financial armageddon loomed? I hope it isn’t to teach us lessons, because they can’t be learnt yet, and I presume we’re not throwing the recession a birthday party, because frankly it isn’t welcome. It ruined my Hannukah.