“If you don’t understand the risk you’re taking, don’t take it.”

From NYTimes.com:

We’re Dull, Small Banks Say, but Have Profits

EXCERPT: In states like Indiana, where property values never soared, community banks have been rock solid. The last failure in the state was in 1992.

To spend time with these Indiana community bankers is to step into an alternate universe, where everything sounds a little strange because it makes perfect sense. You hear things like, “If you don’t understand the risk you’re taking, don’t take it.” And, “We want to be around for decades, so we’re not focused on the next quarter.”

Forget “too big to fail.” These banks consider themselves too small to risk embarrassment. They are run by people who grew up in the towns where they work, and their main fear is getting into a financial jam that will shame them in the eyes of their neighbors.

Wow!