What a turbulent year 2008 has proved to be......and 2009 might prove to be a worse one economically! Still, despite all the bad news, I'm optimistic about one thing. i think that 2008 may well have spelt the end of a decade in which large sections of the business community, and general population for that matter, thought they could get rich quick without earning it.
Personally, i think the rot set in during the Internet bubble years in the late nineties, when values of internet shares rocketed, based not on financial performance, profitability, or any of that boring traditional stuff, but on hype alone.And people got rich without achieving anything.

Whether by coincidence or not, that period in our history seemed to spawn what is now referred to as the "pop idol "generation - young people who believe that fame and fortune can be theirs....without necessarily doing anything special to attain it.
During the last decade, when credit was easy, and the economic conditions were benign, how much of this type of attitude crept into the decisionmaking and marketing of the banks and other lending institutions that ultimately led to the sub prime lending crisis, and the credit crunch?
I see us all returning to some old fashioned fiscal values in 2009.....there is no easy route to riches- a lot of hard work, talent and solid business logic is all you need to succeed! Happy new Year!