On seeing several criminals led to the scaffold in the 16th century, English Protestant martyr John Bradford remarked, “There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.” His words, without his name, are still very common utterances today, used for expressing one’s blessings compared to the fate of others. This was especially poignant for Bradford himself, because he ultimately was burned at the stake as a heretic.* The recent sub-prime crisis offers corporate risk managers inexpensive, yet critical, lessons on what to avoid so that when history decides to repeat itself in other industries, risk managers will be better able to contain or prevent the damage we’re already witnessing and are about to witness.
