Library teaches bankers the errors of their ways - by displaying relics from disasters

A 'Library of Mistakes' is trying to teach bankers the errors of their ways - by displaying relics from disasters such as the financial crash in 2008.The public library, in Edinburgh's New Town, opened five years ago and is run by volunteers, with the motto 'changing the world one mistake at a time'.But the unusual library is home to a collection of memorabilia of things many people would like to forget.Among the collection of mementos from financial crashes, hyperinflation and economic fiascos are board games, books, and oddities.In a bid to teach modern finance workers about how to avoid repeating the errors of their predecessors, the collection charts disasters from the 'tulip-mania' which gripped 17th Century Holland, to a scathing memoir of Donald Trump, published in 1991.An envelope crammed with stamps was posted from Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1998 in the aftermath of the Asia market crash and shows how much local currency was needed to post a letter to the UK.It is hoped the eclectic collection will change the way economics is perceived, especially by young people who may be disengaged with it but feel the consequences of the 2008 crash.Keeper of the library, Russell Napier, said: "Most people find economics dull as ditchwater."If we try and make it more amusing, people may want to learn more about it."Human beings do not behave the way that economists theorise."Novels can be as powerful as equations, they would tell you more about human behaviour."It is scandalous that smart people are not allowed to do Economics without a background in Maths, as Economics is a social science."The 55-year-old originally studied Law in his native Northern Ireland, but ended up working in the finance sector in Edinburgh for 30 years and lives in Dalkeith, Midlothian.He works as an advisor to professional investors, but is passionate about expanding the library and organises evening lectures on topics such as diversity in finance, and historic fraudsters.The library is open to the public but an appointment needs to be made in advance to access it.Artefacts included a model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and even a gift voucher for now-defunct restaurant chain Jamie's Italian.And a ticket for Edinburgh Trams was included in the collection, along with a baseball cap emblazoned with the words 'Bear Stearns' - the first American bank to become a ward of state in 2008.Among the exhibits were a board game from the 1920s, Bulls and Bears, made by the creators of Monopoly, alongside a modern equivalent, The Really Nasty Bankers Game, dating from 2013.The modern game asked players 'how greedy are your family and friends?'

- which Mr Napier says was indicative of a shift in attitude from the general public.Dad-of-two Mr Napier believes the UK needs to take a more hardline approach to white collar crime, as Iceland did in the wake of the 2008 crash when bankers who had caused it were jailed.He said: "It is not just bankers, but the whole financial sector needs to make better decisions."The great financial crash showed us they make the same mistakes again and again."If the incentives are wrong, they get the wrong outcomes. "One of the incentives is to encourage short-term gain."The incentives have to be right, so do the punishments."To put them in prison, it would have to be more than negligent - it would have to be gross negligence."I don't have a problem with people being put in prison for gross negligence for white collar crime."If you commit a crime in a blue shirt, you will go to jail."Mr Napier said the 2008 crash had widened the gulf of inequality in the UK,  but he believes young people are choosing to make ethical decisions about how to invest money."The damage to the financial system has made it harder for younger people to buy homes," he said."People who own assets, whether they are shares or houses, have become noticeably richer."The first bit we can definitely blame on the bankers, but wealth and inequality has been exacerbated by Government policy."Posters for the library have been put up in all Scottish universities and it is hoped a branch will open in London.Mr Napier said: "It is about changing the way we think about finance and economics."It deals with all the mistakes we have made as human beings, and are likely to make again."

A 'Library of Mistakes' is trying to teach bankers the errors of their ways - by displaying relics from disasters such as the financial crash in 2008.The public library, in Edinburgh's New Town, opened five years ago and is run by volunteers, with the motto 'changing the world one mistake at a time'.But the unusual library is home to a collection of memorabilia of things many people would like to forget.Among the collection of mementos from financial crashes, hyperinflation and economic fiascos are board games, books, and oddities.In a bid to teach modern finance workers about how to avoid repeating the errors of their predecessors, the collection charts disasters from the 'tulip-mania' which gripped 17th Century Holland, to a scathing memoir of Donald Trump, published in 1991.An envelope crammed with stamps was posted from Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1998 in the aftermath of the Asia market crash and shows how much local currency was needed to post a letter to the UK.It is hoped the eclectic collection will change the way economics is perceived, especially by young people who may be disengaged with it but feel the consequences of the 2008 crash.Keeper of the library, Russell Napier, said: "Most people find economics dull as ditchwater."If we try and make it more amusing, people may want to learn more about it."Human beings do not behave the way that economists theorise."Novels can be as powerful as equations, they would tell you more about human behaviour."It is scandalous that smart people are not allowed to do Economics without a background in Maths, as Economics is a social science."The 55-year-old originally studied Law in his native Northern Ireland, but ended up working in the finance sector in Edinburgh for 30 years and lives in Dalkeith, Midlothian.He works as an advisor to professional investors, but is passionate about expanding the library and organises evening lectures on topics such as diversity in finance, and historic fraudsters.The library is open to the public but an appointment needs to be made in advance to access it.Artefacts included a model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and even a gift voucher for now-defunct restaurant chain Jamie's Italian.And a ticket for Edinburgh Trams was included in the collection, along with a baseball cap emblazoned with the words 'Bear Stearns' - the first American bank to become a ward of state in 2008.Among the exhibits were a board game from the 1920s, Bulls and Bears, made by the creators of Monopoly, alongside a modern equivalent, The Really Nasty Bankers Game, dating from 2013.The modern game asked players 'how greedy are your family and friends?'

- which Mr Napier says was indicative of a shift in attitude from the general public.Dad-of-two Mr Napier believes the UK needs to take a more hardline approach to white collar crime, as Iceland did in the wake of the 2008 crash when bankers who had caused it were jailed.He said: "It is not just bankers, but the whole financial sector needs to make better decisions."The great financial crash showed us they make the same mistakes again and again."If the incentives are wrong, they get the wrong outcomes.

"One of the incentives is to encourage short-term gain."The incentives have to be right, so do the punishments."To put them in prison, it would have to be more than negligent - it would have to be gross negligence."I don't have a problem with people being put in prison for gross negligence for white collar crime."If you commit a crime in a blue shirt, you will go to jail."Mr Napier said the 2008 crash had widened the gulf of inequality in the UK,  but he believes young people are choosing to make ethical decisions about how to invest money."The damage to the financial system has made it harder for younger people to buy homes," he said."People who own assets, whether they are shares or houses, have become noticeably richer."The first bit we can definitely blame on the bankers, but wealth and inequality has been exacerbated by Government policy."Posters for the library have been put up in all Scottish universities and it is hoped a branch will open in London.Mr Napier said: "It is about changing the way we think about finance and economics."It deals with all the mistakes we have made as human beings, and are likely to make again."