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By Robert Sloan
Published: April 13 2010 23:06 | Last updated: April 13 2010 23:06
When President Barack Obama was inaugurated just over a year ago, comparisons to Franklin Delano Roosevelt had already begun. Mr Obama does seem to be following the FDR playbook in confronting the recession, at least as far as allocating blame is concerned. If Wall Streeters "â?? and not just those taking exorbitant bonuses "â?? want to know what their future holds, they would be advised to look to the past. They might still be able to avoid a repeat.
In 1933, the newly-inaugurated FDR recognised he inherited a populace enraged by the effects of reckless greed in the financial markets. The Pecora commission, which began the year before FDR assumed office, not only aimed to unearth the causes of the 1929 market crash but also rightly skewered the bankers for running what many considered to be a rigged game. It resulted in the political defenestration of several well-known Wall Streeters. The new president wasted no time in stating to the public whose side he was on. What few realised at the time is that FDR's populist rhetoric set off a wave of anti-Wall Street sentiment that far outlasted Pecora.
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