Like the unseen rule-master in the British television show Big Brother, the Basel Accord encourages infantile behaviour among its charges. Within the confines of the system, rational, intelligent adults are transformed into pouting, tantrum-throwing, devious children.
Banks have spent the time they have been locked away in the unreal world of Basel devising all manner of time-consuming and ultimately pointless games. They have, for example, created hybrid tier one capital securities, a form of capital that obeys the letter of the Basel rules but flouts their spirit.
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