Ed Markey: “in 1694 the British parliament ruled that banking should not mix with commerce. In 1791, Alexander Hamilton, in the…”

“in 1694 the British parliament ruled that banking should not mix with commerce. In 1791, Alexander Hamilton, in the United States, decided that banking should not mix with commerce. Thus, it has been over the last 300 years in the Anglo-American tradition. Now we are told, since the 1980s, that we should mirror the Japanese model of Keiretsu, where bankers and industrialists work very closely together. In fact, we were told in the 1980s here in Congress that if we did not model ourselves upon the Japanese economic system, that we would become an economic power of the past. Now, in the 1990s, what do we see? Keiretsu in Japan means bankers and industrialists apologizing to the Japanese people for destroying their economy over the last 15 years. The American system continues on with its entrepreneurial, Darwinian, Adam Smith, ruthless set of decisions, with bankers deciding, venture capitalists deciding, which one of the American companies deserves more capital, not because it is tied to it, not because it is married to it. What happens as a result of the Japanese system? Something called Asian flu. That comes from having bankers too closely tied to industrialists, having too deep of an investment in them and anyone who gets close to them. What is recommended here by the Roukema amendment? That we should, as well, engage in Keiretsu. Our system is working. It has worked for 300 years. We do not have to abandon it and emulate the Japanese.”