Dear ATCA Colleagues

[Please note that the views presented by individual contributors are not necessarily representative of the views of ATCA, which is neutral. ATCA conducts collective Socratic dialogue on global opportunities and threats.]

We are grateful to:

. Dr George Feiger, based in Berkeley, California, USA, for "Two Faces of the Same Coin;"
. The ATCA Editorial Team, based in Canary Wharf, London, for "Contagion and Systemic Risk? ECB Injects Record Euro 95bn post Major Disturbance;"
. The ATCA Editorial Team, for "Flight to Quality as Markets finally Appreciate Risk;"
. Robert McNally, Chairman, London Chamber of Commerce Property and Construction Group, for "Erosion of Commercial Real Estate as a Solid Asset Class;"
. Alexander Hoare, CEO, C Hoare and Co, Private Bankers, based in the City of London, for "Destructive Creativity, Leverage and The Derivatives Market;" and
. Dr Harald Malmgren, CEO, Malmgren Global, based in Washington, DC, for "The Fear of Central Bankers -- Flight from Illiquidity, Derivatives and Heightened Risk of Contagion;"

in response to, "Are the Currency Markets Warning that there is Trouble Ahead? The Precipitous Decline of the US Dollar and its Impact on the World."

Dr George Feiger is President and CEO of of Contango Capital Advisors, based in Berkeley, California. He brings to the firm a diverse background in the banking, financial services and wealth-management industries. He is also Executive Vice President of the firm's parent company, Zions Bancorporation listed on Nasdaq and based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to Contango, Dr Feiger served in a number of senior positions in the financial services sector. He was a Senior Advisor to the Monitor Group, Global Head of Onshore Private Banking for UBS, Global Head of Investment Banking at SBC Warburg and was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Co during his time in Europe. He led the merger integration of the corporate finance businesses of Swiss Bank Corp and SG Warburg, and oversaw the consolidation of SBC Warburg's sales and trading businesses. He was also a partner at Capco, a financial services consulting firm. He holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and was an Associate Professor of Finance at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. He has served as a director on several corporate boards and is a frequent writer and speaker on a wide range of financial topics. He writes:

Dear DK and Colleagues

Re: Two Faces of the Same Coin

It is time to use other language than "contagion" and "systemic risk." We are now experiencing the fruits of every liberal economist's dreams in the global capital markets, which can be summarized in the good news/bad news dichotomy beloved of late night television humorists. First, some facts that we should recognize about world financial markets:

[CONTINUES] [ATCA Membership]

These are two sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the other. It is Milton Friedman's "there's no such thing as a free lunch". And of course Lord Keynes recognized this also in many places in his works where he wrote about investors and speculators. And to repeat, there is no way that regulators can police this system effectively. They can, of course, prevent great depressions and hyper inflations but that is about it.

Welcome to the ride!

Regards

George