I agree it is alarmist doom & gloom - but they caught our attention!
I dont understand who we (UK) owe this money to? Is it to other countries or to future generations? Seems to me the £billions made up as part of QE are adding to the debt, if not to inflation also.
Whilst I think it is fair to mainly blame Labour remember it was the Tories under Thatcher who deregulated the Financial sector called the 'big bang' at the time that led to the increasingly riskier investments 'casino banking'.
It was Vince Cable (an Economist) of the Lib Dems who before the recession was a fairly lone voice asking if our debt-driven economy was going to crash.
Sadly the billions we have collectively had to pay to prop up the financial sector could have been used for so much infrastructure, house building, green investment, poverty reduction etc. What is annoying is the banks will do it again knowing that we mugs will bail them out if necessary. Not a single banker has been jailed for their huge greed and massive incompetence.
It is worse for us in GB than in most countries because the financial sector is a bigger part of the British economy than in other EU nations.
Lets hope the Coalition are getting it right. Now where's that matress?..........
It will be necessary. Bankers have been sent a message that they'll always be bailed out, whatever the cost, and that cost will be dumped on the rest of us.
There can be no better incentive to be reckless than that!
It will be necessary. Bankers have been sent a message that they'll always be bailed out, whatever the cost, and that cost will be dumped on the rest of us.
There can be no better incentive to be reckless than that!
One of our biggest banks - HSBC - was found guilty in the US of enabling Latin American drug cartels to launder billions of dollars What was their penalty - the equivalent of 5 weeks profits.
According to Rolling Stone HSBC also 'moved money for organizations linked to Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, for Russian gangsters; helped countries like Iran, the Sudan and North Korea evade sanctions; and, in between helping murderers and terrorists and rogue states, aided countless common tax cheats in hiding their cash.'
Apparently none of their directors were jailed because this happening to such a big bank would 'destabilise the banking system'. Not only are they apparently too big to fail - they are also too big to jail!:D
Its amazing that this has been almost totally ignored by our media.
One of our biggest banks - HSBC - was found guilty in the US of enabling Latin American drug cartels to launder billions of dollars What was their penalty - the equivalent of 5 weeks profits.
According to Rolling Stone HSBC also 'moved money for organizations linked to Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, for Russian gangsters; helped countries like Iran, the Sudan and North Korea evade sanctions; and, in between helping murderers and terrorists and rogue states, aided countless common tax cheats in hiding their cash.'
Apparently none of their directors were jailed because this happening to such a big bank would 'destabilise the banking system'. Not only are they apparently too big to fail - they are also too big to jail!:D
Its amazing that this has been almost totally ignored by our media.
Good link, makes incredible reading. The bit about not prosecuting individuals to avoid imperilling the banking system is just an excuse, and we shouldn't be surprised. The US Treasury said there were no prosecutions of Wall Street bankers because there wasn't the time to do it!
Well, they're a bunch of pessimistic Chicken Lickens, aren't they?
Whilst they are right to raise the concerns over the levels of indebtedness, their prognoses are all very worst case scenarios designed to frighten the punters who then sign up to receive the MoneyWeek advice so there is a vested interest there.
The steps to avoid such a doomsday scenario include attaining balanced budgets and then starting to pay back the debt. Osborne has been a lamentable failure in this respect and he's refused to axe the multibillion HS2 black hole, he's done nothing to sharpen up government procurement that wastes billions (usually due to IT, defence procurement and changing specifications) and he's refused to do anything substantive about tax avoidance and evasion that costs this country tens of billions of pounds in lost revenue each year.
Instead, he's stoking up a mini housing boom via the Help to Buy Scheme for party political reasons and where do booms usually end? A bust. In that respect, he is being deeply irresponsible and I regard him as being wholly unfit for office.
A nice cheery article in this week's Moneyweek magazine - not perhaps for those of a nervous disposition or those who believe govt funds are limitless and grow on trees:
Admittedly its a nice marketing tool for the mag - but it does make sobering reading! Some key extracts are below.
"This looming crisis is related to the financial crisis of 2008... but it will be infinitely more dangerous. As we'll explain, there is an unsolvable problem at the heart of our financial system. One that dates back over a hundred years.
In that time this problem has eaten away more than £10 trillion in public funds. It has been at the root of practically every major political argument in this country, and it affects every aspect of the way we live our lives.
Twenty-five Prime Ministers – from both political parties – have come and gone without ever having come close to solving it.
We believe the outcome of this problem is inevitable… and the recession, joblessness and instability you see right now is only the first stage of it. Many people think the slump we're in now is as bad as it will get.
But the truth is, it's only the start.
In fact, you will certainly see the consequences of this deep-rooted problem unfold across the cities, towns and villages of Britain. No one will escape the fallout.
In all recorded history, no country has ever recovered from the financial position we find ourselves in today. No government has ever been able to reverse this trend. No emergency action has ever come close to a solution.
This inescapable problem has only ever had one outcome: financial collapse.....
Compared to the size of our economy, Britain is now one of the most heavily indebted countries in the Western world. That's official. Our total debts stand at more than FIVE TIMES what our entire economy is worth.
Proportionally, that's more debt than Italy… Portugal… Spain… and almost twice as much debt as Greece. Those are four countries already in the throes of financial crisis. We're the odd one out because we haven't collapsed – yet. But things can't stay that way for long.
And the worst part is, even THAT isn't the full story…
Because when you add in all of Britain's "unfunded obligations" – promises the Government has made on things like public sector pensions – our debts swell to 900% of our economy.
That's right – when you add everything up, we owe NINE TIMES what our entire economy is worth.
Our political leaders still like to see Britain as a world power. But let's not delude ourselves. It's clear to see: we're totally broke.."
They've been posting this article (or some variation on it) on a variety of media for some times. It's intended to get you to purchase a sub to their magazine, where they naturally recommend investments they have absolutely no links or investments in themselves, oh no.
Some of the analysis is correct, some of the divergence off into the wild is not. They have a political agenda, like many publications. I won't be packing my rifle or investing in gold ingots JUST yet
They've been posting this article (or some variation on it) on a variety of media for some times. It's intended to get you to purchase a sub to their magazine, where they naturally recommend investments they have absolutely no links or investments in themselves, oh no.
Some of the analysis is correct, some of the divergence off into the wild is not. They have a political agenda, like many publications. I won't be packing my rifle or investing in gold ingots JUST yet
I do realise that - but it doesn't detract from many of the issues they highlighted.
It wasn't me that dragged this thread up again after a year!
Wouldn't you rather discuss one of our biggest banks being involved in money laundering for drug cartels?:D
Moneyweek is a load of total rubbish and advertises itself with fearful predictions. Whatever it says - do the opposite!
They used to send emails every day a couple of years ago advising people to sell shares and buy gold, saying the price could easily double. That'll be the same gold that has plunged from $1800 to $1250 over the last year, with some forecasters suggesting it has further to go.
You don't understand. UK GDP is propped up with unsustainable levels of private debt. Without that private debt, GDP would be a lot lower, and the national debt to GDP ratio would be much higher.
In a nutshell Gordon Brown cost around £1 trillion. It will take 20 years to repair the damage he did.
...and other Conservative myths. Strange the bankers take no blame - even stranger that the Tories argued for even less regulation that the Labour Party had in place.
You don't understand. UK GDP is propped up with unsustainable levels of private debt. Without that private debt, GDP would be a lot lower, and the national debt to GDP ratio would be much higher.
Research has found that humans are naturally over-optimistic, so it's not surprising you want to believe the situation is better than it really is.
Another truism is that bad news sells - remember endless stories in the Daily Heil and Expess about snowmageddon/bazillions of Romanians & Bulgarians arriving a week ago/coffee causes cancer etc etc ?
Scaremongering advice to get their hands on your money. There are problems but the last people anyone should trust are bankers or investment bods when it comes to retaining what you have. They have caused the problems!
A fool and his money...
Love to know what the money making, money preserving. wheeze is for the saver/inestor. . Gold prices have collapsed. The secure higher dividend large cap shares - like the banks - look risky post 2008. I went looking for savings accounts yesterday and you can't find a major high street option that doesn't lose you 1% s year to inflation - even if you commit to 5 years. Most banks offer derisory rates, and the Cheltenham doesn't even take savings in any more. National Savings pay less than inflation. Investment managers are advising people to drop bonds. Emerging markets have fallen, clsely followed by asian investments. US investments pay poor dividends, if you need income. The current market tip is Europe - but is that a good hole to dig yourself into rather than the Uk one?
At the moment, unless you buy a lot of shares with decent dividends, its impossible for anyone to make a decent income with their savings or pension fund. And buying art, stamps, pictures, or shares is hardly safe - as the people who bought gold found out.
Scaremongering advice to get their hands on your money. There are problems but the last people anyone should trust are bankers or investment bods when it comes to retaining what you have. They have caused the problems!
A fool and his money...
Well on the basis of that I think I can reasonable claim that I am no fool.....:)
Comments
It will be necessary. Bankers have been sent a message that they'll always be bailed out, whatever the cost, and that cost will be dumped on the rest of us.
There can be no better incentive to be reckless than that!
One of our biggest banks - HSBC - was found guilty in the US of enabling Latin American drug cartels to launder billions of dollars What was their penalty - the equivalent of 5 weeks profits.
According to Rolling Stone HSBC also 'moved money for organizations linked to Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, for Russian gangsters; helped countries like Iran, the Sudan and North Korea evade sanctions; and, in between helping murderers and terrorists and rogue states, aided countless common tax cheats in hiding their cash.'
Apparently none of their directors were jailed because this happening to such a big bank would 'destabilise the banking system'. Not only are they apparently too big to fail - they are also too big to jail!:D
Its amazing that this has been almost totally ignored by our media.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214
Are they practitioners of eugenics?
Here is something far closer to the truth -
http://coppolacomment.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-end-of-britain-not-yet.html
Like many, people in my family of working age and aged in their 20s in 1909 lived to just under 92, not 48.
Those of working age and aged in their 20s in 1949 have recently departed at just over 92.
There has been less than one month's difference in their lifespan.
Good link, makes incredible reading. The bit about not prosecuting individuals to avoid imperilling the banking system is just an excuse, and we shouldn't be surprised. The US Treasury said there were no prosecutions of Wall Street bankers because there wasn't the time to do it!
Well, they're a bunch of pessimistic Chicken Lickens, aren't they?
Whilst they are right to raise the concerns over the levels of indebtedness, their prognoses are all very worst case scenarios designed to frighten the punters who then sign up to receive the MoneyWeek advice so there is a vested interest there.
The steps to avoid such a doomsday scenario include attaining balanced budgets and then starting to pay back the debt. Osborne has been a lamentable failure in this respect and he's refused to axe the multibillion HS2 black hole, he's done nothing to sharpen up government procurement that wastes billions (usually due to IT, defence procurement and changing specifications) and he's refused to do anything substantive about tax avoidance and evasion that costs this country tens of billions of pounds in lost revenue each year.
Instead, he's stoking up a mini housing boom via the Help to Buy Scheme for party political reasons and where do booms usually end? A bust. In that respect, he is being deeply irresponsible and I regard him as being wholly unfit for office.
They've been posting this article (or some variation on it) on a variety of media for some times. It's intended to get you to purchase a sub to their magazine, where they naturally recommend investments they have absolutely no links or investments in themselves, oh no.
Some of the analysis is correct, some of the divergence off into the wild is not. They have a political agenda, like many publications. I won't be packing my rifle or investing in gold ingots JUST yet
I do realise that - but it doesn't detract from many of the issues they highlighted.
It wasn't me that dragged this thread up again after a year!
Wouldn't you rather discuss one of our biggest banks being involved in money laundering for drug cartels?:D
When we were all born the country was in debt and, when we're all gone, guess what, it'll still be in debt.
http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/uk-debt-gdp.png
Total debt is five times GDP.
http://www.leftfutures.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Picture2-copy.jpg
No need for purposely confusing graphs stacking all sort of things on top of each other from a conveniently selected year.
Here's what the official UK government debt looks like since the 1700s
http://www.moneystockstycoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/uk-Debt.bmp
They used to send emails every day a couple of years ago advising people to sell shares and buy gold, saying the price could easily double. That'll be the same gold that has plunged from $1800 to $1250 over the last year, with some forecasters suggesting it has further to go.
You don't understand. UK GDP is propped up with unsustainable levels of private debt. Without that private debt, GDP would be a lot lower, and the national debt to GDP ratio would be much higher.
http://i.imgur.com/suvU1xX.jpg
As a country, we've made a loss every quarter since 1997. How has the economy been growing all this time if we've been making a loss?
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2074067,00.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090524122539.htm
Research has found that humans are naturally over-optimistic, so it's not surprising you want to believe the situation is better than it really is.
Love to know what the money making, money preserving. wheeze is for the saver/inestor. . Gold prices have collapsed. The secure higher dividend large cap shares - like the banks - look risky post 2008. I went looking for savings accounts yesterday and you can't find a major high street option that doesn't lose you 1% s year to inflation - even if you commit to 5 years. Most banks offer derisory rates, and the Cheltenham doesn't even take savings in any more. National Savings pay less than inflation. Investment managers are advising people to drop bonds. Emerging markets have fallen, clsely followed by asian investments. US investments pay poor dividends, if you need income. The current market tip is Europe - but is that a good hole to dig yourself into rather than the Uk one?
At the moment, unless you buy a lot of shares with decent dividends, its impossible for anyone to make a decent income with their savings or pension fund. And buying art, stamps, pictures, or shares is hardly safe - as the people who bought gold found out.
Just Mr Brown, nobody else?
Lucky we had the banks to bail us out, eh?
Well on the basis of that I think I can reasonable claim that I am no fool.....:)