Credit crunch and the UK made easy.

Interesting graphic here:


So, in bailing out the ailing banking system in the UK by spending at least £500bn, the government is over-stretching its spending projections by 81%. Where's Prudence when you need her? What's the bets that it'll be health and education that get squeezed (or squoze if you are Utahn, apparently), rather than say defence (now there's a misnomer) expenditure? And how many of these banking executives will be losing their jobs for messing up so spectacularly? How many won't get their bonuses this year? How many will do the honourable thing and resign their positions in light of their outstanding failure? Aye, nane. And whose money will they be spending? The taxpayers'. For the £50bn part-nationalisation component of the bailout alone it is going to cost each taxpayer £2000. I wonder if the banking executives will notice it in their annual bonus this year? I'm guessing not.

In spite of the goatee beard.

Ian Bell has written an interesting article in today's Herald on Marx and the current disastrous US financial situation here. It reminded me of the several visits I've made with friends to Highgate Cemetery to see Marx's tomb below:


Surrounding the tomb are the graves of numerous erstwhile left leaning people who in all likelihood, alongside Marx, would view the current situation in the US and beyond as nothing more than expected, and with some justification. There is no little irony in seeing the free market trumpeting Republicans intervening left right and centre and bailing out companies that are now seeing the spoils of their lackadaisical (at best) approach to financial management coming home to roost. But of course, we've to feel sorry for the managing directors. Not the millions of people who are facing homelessness and unemployment as a result of being conned into thinking that they could afford mortgages way above their income. The 'credit crunch' will make its way into history textbooks in time and whoever decides to take up the analysis of it will likely have to set aside some time to analyse the myriad terms, industries, sub-industries and tangles that the sub-prime market impacts on.

Oh, and another thing. The facility set up by Goldman Sachs et al to help stabilise the market (HA!) reminds me of a similar action taken 40 years ago in Basle when the international monetary system was having some difficulties. Who says what I do isn't relevant?

THIEVES!

No not the Tories, although I am led to believe that Tory is gaelic for 'robber' (which may or may not be true, but apt nonetheless), but the scumbag that skimmed my bank card and trousered several hundreds of our hard earned out of our account. I knew living in London would bring with it all sorts of interesting experiences and I did think that having money electronically half-inched was a distinct possibility, but actually seeing the reality of your account being abused wasn't that much fun. In saying that, even less fun was the bank saying that since my card was present at the transactions (which it most certainly wasn't as it was in my pocket on my person) they couldn't consider it fraud. When I pointed out to them that my card was not present but a copy of it may have been they asked if I was sure I wanted to 'take it forward as fraud'? No no, just you let some criminal continue stealing our money, that sounds like a great idea to me. Where do these people get their crazy ideas from?