One of the handful of journalists to fully grasp the enormity of the economic crisis that was to commence in late 2007 has died, long before the crisis itself will end. In his column Planet Wall Street, David Hirst’s poetic prose warned his readers of the coming economic tsunami, at the same time as the officials who should have prevented it continued to laud the very instruments of financial deceit that made it possible.
Though the Fourth Estate’s higher purpose is to keep the other three in check, the human fear of being an outcast keeps most journalists within the bounds of conventional wisdom. David had no problem stepping outside it, as he stepped outside the conventions of so much else in life.
David Hirst
