Letters to the Editor: Not Chamberlainish But Churchillian
The comprehensive article on deferred loan losses in the banking system (page one, Jan. 8) does another injustice to the constructive efforts of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to manage the complex issues bequeathed them by inflation.</br></br>In particular, the article attributes to an investment manager the view that there are "a bunch of Neville Chamberlains running the financial system." To so conclude one must impermissibly ignore, for example:</br></br>(1) FHLBB chairman Ed Gray's repeated appeal for congressional recognition of the severity of problems in the thrift industry which, as you now discover, afflicts several financial sectors;</br></br>(2) Mr. Gray's leadership and determination to bring more conservative capital and accounting requirements into the thrift system;</br></br>(3) The extraordinary steps taken by the Bank Board to curtail proliferation of new institutions where state regulators have proven unwilling or unable to oversee unrestrained speculation. In this regard, it is a source of gallows humor that -- as you report -- Texas regulators (of all people) critically call upon the FSLIC to "fix the mess" in which one of their creations now finds itself.