Wednesday 24 September 2008

Alice's bubble wrap

The sub-prime minister has led us beyond boom and bust

"Now the whole thing is in tatters, a busted flush, wrecked by a desire to trade beyond its sphere of competence. Yes, Gordon Brown’s premiership has become the AIG of British politics. "

U.K. Banks Are Biggest Winners in Credit Turmoil

This seems unlikely to me....

Make the super-rich pay!

From the social workers party....

What about the ordinary rich? Can't we make them pay too? Perhaps the almost rich could also make a contribution.

Top eurozone economies on brink of recession

No one escapes.....

Wall Street Jokes, Please

From Freakonomics

Paulson Agrees to Executive Pay Limits as Part of Plan

From Calculated Risk

Lie of the Day

From Naked Capitalism:

"Responding to questions from lawmakers, Bernanke said that should the rescue succeed and spur an economic recovery, that may lead the Fed to raise interest rates sooner than it otherwise would. For the plan itself, ``I don't expect any effect on inflation,'' Bernanke said."

A Simple Explanation of What Went Wrong

So simple that it is a wonder more people didn't see it coming.

FBI investigates four Wall Street firms over sub-prime meltdown

Better late than never....

Wall Street Panics, Ruling Class Scrambles

"The events of the last week on Wall Street represent a new and more destabilizing phase of the turmoil gripping financial institutions and markets in the U.S. A financial crisis has been unfolding for more than a year. It is now the most serious financial crisis of U.S. capitalism since the Great Depression of the 1930s. And it is by no means contained or under control. The financial edifice of U.S. imperialism is in danger of crumbling. And the U.S. ruling class is cobbling together desperate measures to prevent wholesale collapse."

Economic crisis, low media focus blamed for scant storm relief gifts

From the Catholic Weekly; why give generously when you will need the cash for yourself.

Leave the bonuses alone

From the Institute of Directors, who think city bonuses are just fine.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Alice,

What about this one?

A very good article about UK banks:

Lloyds TSB takeover of HBOS leaves Britain’s banks in trouble

“Even the apparent rescue of Halifax Bank of Scotland may result in a bigger crisis, if the drowning HBOS drags down its rescuer, Lloyds TSB.... If this fails, it will take down all Britain’s banks.”

With plans to slash costs by £1 billion a year—equivalent to 10 percent of the banks’ combined costs—union leaders believe the job cuts will be in the region of 21,000 and 28,000 out of a 140,000 workforce.


http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/hbos-s20.shtml

HAVE FUN!!! RAMBO

Ben Bittrolff said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ben Bittrolff said...

Yes. Its true. (News from Bloomberg)

The real question is, who is copying who?

Kazakhstan Plans Paulson Style Bailout: Borat?

Anonymous said...

Brown delivered on his promise of "No more boom and bust" - he gave us bubble and bust.

Anonymous said...

Looks like it's all going bust to me. More jobs to be lost:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7635346.stm

Bradford & Bingley (B&B) is to cut 370 jobs because of the continuing downturn in the market for mortgages.

Anonymous said...

Alice

Have you noticed the similarities between in the speeches on WMDs and the requirement for a bail out.

Can we believe him this time!

Great blog Alice thanks for the hard work.

Ben

Anonymous said...

Hi Alice,

Thanks again for your brilliant blogging.

Last night Newsnight showed a graph which showed the only comparable period with similar levels of debt was that leading up to the 1929 crash.

It struck me as an apposite comparison.

Menawhile: Should we trust the UK depositor guarantee scheme? Would the government hold to it in all circumstances?

I think they have never repaid the UK's second world war bonds!

B. in C.