BoE's Andrew Haldane: Loss Of Income Caused By Banks As Bad As a 'World War'

From the Telegraph:

The economic impact of the global financial crisis has been as bad as a world war and as a result public anger at banks was reasonable and understandable, said Andrew Haldane, a senior Bank of England official

Mr Haldane, the Bank's executive director for financial stability, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One on Monday that the scale of the loss of income and output as a result the crisis started by banks was as damaging as a "world war".

"There is every reason why the general public ought to be deeply upset by what has happened – and angry," he said.

"If we are fortunate, the cost of the crisis will be paid for by our children. More likely it will still be being paid for by our grandchildren."

Mr Haldane, the Bank's executive director for financial stability, said banks needed to be more honest about the risky assets on their books if confidence was to be restored to the system and lending to business was to flow again.

"Investors will be much less willing to put their money into the banking system. They will lack confidence in the banking system and will either charge very high rates for lending that money to banks or will just withdraw their money entirely," he warned.

He urged banks to "spring clean" their balance sheets to get credit into the system and create a "springboard" for a recovery in the economy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9719300/Loss-of-income-caused-by-banks-as-bad-as-a-world-war-says-BoEs-Andrew-Haldane.html