Last year we called for an impartial inquiry into the role of banking and the independent commission announced this week by the chancellor of the exchequer fits the bill in terms of remit and membership. Society needs banks but not the self-serving kind we have today. The commission has an opportunity to put this right. In doing so it will need to acknowledge banks' vital contribution and distinguish that from the clutter of other financial activities that banks have accrued and now encumbers the system. This is important work, for if the commission is successful it can help to solve society's riddle, “when is a bank not a bank?”
去年，我們呼籲對銀行業的角色進行公正的調查。就職權和成員資格而言，英國財政大臣上週宣佈成立的獨立委員會完全適合承擔這一任務。社會需要銀行，但不是當今那種自私的銀行。獨立委員會有機會糾正這一錯誤。要這麼做，它需要承認銀行的重要貢獻，並將之與銀行逐漸形成、目前妨礙著整個體系的其它金融活動帶來的混亂區別開來。這項工作非常重要，因爲如果獨立委員會取得成功，就可以幫助解決「銀行何時不是銀行」的社會謎題。
