HARVEST THANKSGIVING this year is celebrated under the looming shadow of financial and economic crisis. "The party's over!” proclaimed Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, only to lose the support of Congress for an initial rescue plan for the markets, which might otherwise have succeeded. She was right of course, but like perhaps too many present-day politicians she was willing to risk the national interest for the sake of scoring a party political point, something which is perhaps symptomatic of a political generation which looks a shade too hungry for political power to be capable of uniting people for the common good – and not merely in the U.S.

The short-term bail out by the Federal Reserve and central banks is a vital respite. But it can only be a very temporary respite to offer some space for better and safer regulations in national and international financial markets to be introduced during a now inevitable economic recession. Such regulation is now urgent, but it will be difficult. As the Irish government has already shown, international agreement is likely to be very hard to reach at a time when national economic difficulties and differences are liable to increase and so exacerbate international competition. I find it difficult to believe that most politicians will prove themselves able to measure up to the international challenges that are really needed. Inevitably a new and relatively inexperienced American President will be able to call the shots and impose regulations which are likely to be most suited to American interests – which will consequently be inadequate for the global community as a whole, especially poorer countries.

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Serious questions need to be addressed by our own politicians about the real nature and risks of financial globalisation. It has taken place with the enthusiastic encouragement of a British government which has been only too keen to profit from the bonanza offered by the international financial dominance established in the City. Some will try to resist the idea that 'the party is over,' but the truth is that some more traditional banking practices and ethics need to be restored and enforced if any real trust is to be re-established in our financial markets. Stronger discipline and controls are likely to be subtly resisted, and if any government insists on them, capital may take flight to more 'relaxed' financial climates. So we are likely to be faced with a choice between the speculative interests of a dominant City and the interest of the rest of the population in stronger financial security and economic stability.