"I look at this period of time as involuntary character boot camp," Josephson said. "But when the sun comes out, how solid are we?" He continued that although the vast majority of people are fundamentally decent people, "if we don't start modeling that ethics is a necessity and not a luxury, the kind of problems we are witnessing today will be small potatoes compared to what can happen in the future."

Josephson advised insiders to look at the bigger picture in their business practices to come out better on the other side. "There's a difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do," he said. "None of us want to run our business as a risk-management strategy. The risk is too great."

Following Josephson's presentation, FOX News' Varney pointed out that until the fall of last year, for the past 25 years, America was the best performing of the industrial economies. "Out of 100 quarters, only five quarters have we had flat or negative growth," he said.

The financial landscape has been shifted. Where we are now, Varney said, is that "our public policy has been geared towards wealth creation and now it has shifted to wealth redistribution."

In a quick 10-minute summation, Varney recapped the cascade of how we got here, using headlines from the beginning of the fund meltdowns, to Iceland's bankruptcy, to when 2 trillion euros set aside as a rescue fund for Europe. But he ended on a positive note, with the assertion America will be first to get out of this mess. "We will be the first out of this mess, and we are the only ones who can be first," he said, "so give yourselves a round of applause."

Instant Insights /

Building Solid Foundation, Key for Future

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