Tradicionalni in splošno sprejeti pogled na krizo pravi, da so krizo zakuhali neodgovorni in pohlepni bankirji, ki so poceni denar centralnih bank z lopato delili komurkoli, ki je prišel mimo. Krizo zato lahko rešijo samo države, ki očistijo poslovne banke, in centralne banke, ki napumpajo dovolj likvidnosti v gospodarstvo. Toda krize vseeno noče biti konec. Kaj je narobe s to razlago?

Robert Skidelsky, upokojeni professor na Warwick University, ponuja drugačno razlago. Pravi, da je pri vzrokih za nastanek krize namesto ponudbene strani treba upoštevati tudi stran povpraševanja. Nekdo je povpraševal po kreditih, sicer jih poslovne banke ne bi mogle kar vsiliti. In na strani povpraševanja so bile predvsem nepremičnine, ki so pripeljale do nepremičninskega balona, v katerega so pumpale denar banke. Toda zakaj so ljudje bili pripravljeni toliko in po takšni ceni investirati v nepremičnine?

Skidelsky pravi, da je vzrok v povečani neenakosti med ljudmi, v povečanih razlikah v razdelitvi ustvarjenega v zadnjih treh desetletjih:

To answer that, we must look at what was happening to the distribution of income. The world was getting steadily richer, but the income distribution within countries was becoming steadily more unequal. Median incomes have been stagnant or even falling for the last 30 years, even as per capita GDP has grown. This means that the rich have been creaming off a giant share of productivity growth.

And what did the relatively poor do to “keep up with the Joneses” in this world of rising standards? They did what the poor have always done: got into debt. In an earlier era, they became indebted to the pawnbroker; now they are indebted to banks or credit-card companies. And, because their poverty was only relative and house prices were racing ahead, creditors were happy to let them sink deeper and deeper into debt.

Of course, some worried about the collapse of the household savings rate, but few were overly concerned. In one of his last articles, Milton Friedman wrote that savings nowadays took the form of houses.

Iz tega pa sledi še logično nadaljevanje. Sedanji problem očitno ni na ponudbeni strani, saj se podjetja ubadajo s presežki, ki jih ne morejo prodati. Prav tako ni problem na strani ponudbe kreditov. Problem je na strani povpraševanja. Gospodinjstva in podjetja so prezadolžena, ne morejo si privoščiti dodatnega trošenja ali pa ne morejo dobiti kreditov za investicije zaradi slabih bilanc ali pa si ne upajo investirati zaradi splošnega upada povpraševanja (padanja “zaupanja potrošnikov”). V tej situaciji seveda centralne banke ne morejo narediti kaj prida na strani likvidnosti. Lahko napumpajo še bilijone ali desetine bilijonov dolarjev ali evrov v gospodarstvo, pa to zaradi likvidnostne pasti ne bo imelo učinka na povečanje ponudbe. (Zaradi gospodarske depresije se tudi na inflaciji ne bo poznalo)

Edini subjekt, ki v tej situaciji lahko kaj narediti, so države. Kot duhovito pravi Skidelsky, v tej situaciji ne potrebujemo “posojilodajalca v skrajni sili”, pač pa “potrošnika v skrajni sili“:

Our current situation requires not a lender of last resort, but a spender of last resort, and that can only be governments.

If governments, with their already-high level of indebtedness, believe that they cannot borrow any more from the public, they should borrow from their central banks and spend the extra money themselves on public works and infrastructure projects. This is the only way to get the big economies of the West moving again.

Toda to je le del rešitve problema. Drugi, in zadostni, pogoj pa je, da države rešijo problem preveč neenakomerne porazdelitve dohodkov. V razvitih državah se preveč dohodkov koncentrira v rokah zgolj nekaj promilov prebivalstva. To posledično vodi v prezadolženost večine prebivalstva ter generira krize. Skidelsky:

Concerted redistribution of wealth and income has frequently been essential to the long-term survival of capitalism. We are about to learn that lesson again.

Toda kako doseči to bolj enakomerno porazdelitev dohodkov? S povišanjem davkov na visoke dohodke? Z obdavčitvijo premoženja? Z vrnitvijo vloge sindikatov (v razvitih državah), ki so zadnji varuh kompresije dohodkov?

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Vir navedb: Robert Skidelsky, Project Syndicate.