Lessons of history

...which usually are ignored.

clipped from www.dailykos.com Why the Norwegian Bank Crisis of 1988 is Important! by arendt During a lunchtime discussion, a European at our company pointed out that Norway had faced a banking crisis similar to ours twenty years ago; but that they had survived it at minimal cost. My colleague also pointed out that the Paulson plan is taking exactly the opposite approach to the Norwegian response, which had a successful resolution. Lessons learned, resolution • Focus on saving the system, not the individual bank • Owners first in line to take losses • Board and senior management of failed banks to be changed • Blanket creditor guarantees not necessary We are doing the exact opposite of what has been proven to work. The Norwegians bailed themselves out at minimal cost.