Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Bi-partisanship

By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.
The election dramas are upon us, in both the United States and in Canada.  Let the theatre of words and promises begin.
As a kid I would listen to politicians speak on the news and I was always struck by two things: (1) the use of big words that seemed to obscure rather than clarify what they seemed to be saying, and (2) if politician A said that something was Red, then politician B would automatically say it was Blue – regardless of the actual veracity of the original statement.
Risk departments sometimes act like they are politicians.  Firstly they use big words that often obscure rather than clarify the situation.  Secondly if the front line likes an idea, the risk department often reflexively finds at least one thing to dislike about the idea – despite the attractiveness of the idea.
In the democratic societies we live in, I now (to a point) understand the nature of the partisan debates.  However, effective government should always come to a responsible bi-partisan solution.  So should risk departments and front lines.

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