Gillian Tett looks beyond yesterday's Today item on "jurisdiction shopping" by banks. She warns there is an unintended consequence of the current worldwide desire to bash the bankers. Legislators in key countries are busy unilaterally changing internationally-agreed rules. Unfortunately, Tett says, this makes it more likely that practices illegal in one country but legal in another will be used to cover up looming catastrophes in the capital markets.
Perhaps it is the sunshine, or the abnormal atmosphere of peace and contemplation currently pervading the Centre, but I was greatly cheered by this post on the Poynter Institute website. A few people in a handful of places in one advanced nation seem to be waking up to the idea that democracy needs journalism like a bird needs feathers. Let's hope the idea can cross the Atlantic in the opposite direction to the Mayflower, and ideally a little faster.
