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Whatever happened to the Blair Congressional medal? This is the time to get a lot of publicity.

Why not get all of the economic gloom out of the way and tell people how their pensions are doing! I think the supermarkets will be selling a lot of hard liquor next week if my assumptions are correct so the Supermarket shares will rise albeit temporarily. Perhaps though its a good time to pick up shares?


On the US election I liked last nights report on yet more shameless Republican cheating. Are there still concerns about the voting software? I am an absolute Luddite when it comes to elections. Keep it plain and simple in the UK please.

This bailout is an iniquitous abuse of public money.

These crashes are built into the system. Money is created as debt with interest as the poison pill. Until the system is totally changed, these crashes will continue.

LIQUOR LIQUIDITY #1

I can confirm, as of midnight last night, that uncharacteristic levels of agitated behaviour
had spilled onto the M4 in Berkshire. The volume of private cars and their demented behaviour, was way above their usual quiescent levels for weekday midnight. The drivers appeared intent on consuming their last drop of expensive fuel, and ending it all, in a composite act of pure reason.

IT'S NOT FAIR - I CAN BE BOLD!

J Gordon Brown continues to display his immature workings. We had the book: 'Courage: Eight Portraits' and recently his new watchword 'Fair'. Today, he felt moved to TELL us he was being bold (about the Money Mess) before doing the boldness itself. He's like the child, back from school, who has to tell of some classroom triumph; desperate to gain approval. This is the same child who cries: "It's not FAIR!'
Brown shows all the characteristics of an individual who is constantly measuring himself against crippling yardsticks branded into his psyche, that he fears (as he chews those nails into old age) he can never attain. This is not a leader by nature and right and, by extension, those around him are not what we need and want governing Britain.

Whereas I can understand that in most of the postings and comments someone needs to be blamed, and the list is endless. Tories blame Labour and Labour blames Tories etc. etc.

However we have all supped with the devil and added to the national debt "reaping where we have no sown" to quote the Bible.
So a lot of the blame lies with us. Where were all the political pundits and doom-mongers over the last 30 odd years? A Lot of people being wise after the event.

Let us all hope we have learned our lesson and never again hand over our economy to the speculators.
But my fear is once we have paid the Dane-geld to the banks to get them out of this mess, and incidently US, they will be back for more. If it fails WE ALL SUFFER and who is to blame will be irrelevant.

A couple of thoughts for some quid pro quo for all our money being used to bail out the banks

Perhaps the government can now ensure the banks stop their dubious off shore tax avoidance schemes they all seem to embrace to reduce the tax they pay to the exchequer?

Am i the only one who is annoyed that my debit card transactions go via jersey to save the bank its full tax exposure and up their profits?

Whilst they are talking about cutting the enormous dividends these banks have been giving on the back of ordinary people? why notlink dividends to growth for the next few years till the taxpayer gets decent returns and some more?

Another one, how about stopping the profligate schmoozing, dining and entertaining of civil servants and politicians by these banks? now they are partially public they can all sit in a boring meeting room like everyone else.

It seems to me there will never be a better opportunity to get these greed led companies back on course and to make sure they pay what they should do to the country that bailed them out.

The question is will the government continue its appalling love in with anything that comes out of the city as seems to have been the way for most of the bliar years


Will Darling and Brown cow tow to the business world and capitulate as usual or will they find ways to alter bankers behaviour and ensure the public purse benefit out of this?


Will the bankers change their ways or will the 'bankers' change their ways

#5 Billbradbury
I could not agree less on several points.

Speculators gives us a nice big pie to divide up.

My problem is not with the speculaters its with the fact that financiers were allowed to dream up crazy instruments nobody understands and trade on the basis of delusional assessments.
Regulators and those that control them should be the objects of our ire.

There are hordes of analysts who have identified that New Labour was too close to big business. This is what happens when the lines get blurred.

I would agree that there seem to have been too few people that identified the specific problems but thats because we let the key financial sector effectively regulate itself because only they understood what they were doing.

You say: "who is to blame will be irrelevant". Whatever happens now there will be an inquest and all of the spinning and blagging in the world won't help those responsible for the regulation of the Anglo-Saxon economy financial markets - namely the Republicans in the US and New Labour in the UK.

As for "we have all supped with the devil" I never voted New Labour. If individuals took out too much debt then as Vince Cable identified it was as much to do with the regime that encouraged indebtedness as those that trusted in the "Iron Chancellor" and the stability of the economy.

The "end of boom and bust!" . Buy to Let.

Very funny Billbradbury!

Labour are blameless! Ha ha ha!

thegangophone,
I never implied that Labour was "blameless". The blame lies, as my Old Labour colleagues keep telling me, was that "New" Labour was just the Tory Party in different clothes.

John Ross in his book written in 1984, "Thatcher and Friends" did predict that Labour, whenever or if, it returned to power would find itself locked into an economic system set up by the Tories and by the turn of the century the electorate will percieve very little difference between the two major parties.
I was told often by my MP with pride that the City of London provided 80% of the wealth of this country. It, and the banks/speculators have all but destroyed it.

Don't quite know where to send this request...

Dear Editor, Jeremy and fellow posters

Can ´óÏó´«Ã½ urgently set up a nightly 'Special' on the financial chaos?
I heard the public callers this morning on Five Live illuminating the issues in a way that the 'talking heads' on Newsnight and others don't really do - at least not in accessible language!
I think licence payers deserve this of public service tv.
Please set up a 30 minutes nightly programme in studios around the country to give ordinary folk a chance to contribute their valuable thoughts and ideas.
The situation is now very serious with a 500 (not 50) billion payout of our money (according to tonight's evening Standard).
This 'generosity' has taken place without parliament's voting!
It is just too shocking when you think of the dire straits and low quality of our public services ...for example, people are dying and being maimed through hospital infections the worst in Europe and so on - and where is the money to stop that scandal !?
a SPECIAL programme should bring in the CEO's of the banks for starters to answer for themselves - and the British politicians(again unique in Europe) who with America's allowed the 'free for all'!
The guilty bankers have been given an incredible 'get out of jail' card whilst allowed to keep the stolen goods. Our prisons are full up with people who have done far far less !
Instead of the usual presenters and interviewers give us the Will Selfs Rory Bremmers, and Joe Brand types who are brilliant at telling it like it really is. Such a dedicated, regular, current programme is desperately needed and as licence payers we should have it. I will put the request to Channel Four too.

WELCOME TO DE MOCK CRASS Y (#9)

The mocking of the people though crass governance that leaves us asking 'why?'

#8 Billbradbury

I certainly agree on the "gung ho" failings of New Labour. I think we probably agree that the "New" mob are soul-less and that the "Old" mob had the interests of working people at heart.

I think we do disagree on the city still. If you want to carve up the financial pie fairly you do need to make a pie. I am all for wealth creation - just not unregulated market activity that lead to trillions of dollars of shady deals.

Its those that should have controlled the markets for the public that are to blame.

If a banker executes his duties and gets a large bonus I am not concerned if the sums add up.

If the Chancellor did not appreciate that billions of pounds of high risk derivatives and CDS were based on high risk loans that were quite likely not to be realised then its the Chancellor and not the banker who should carry the can.

Will they willingly shoulder any responsibility. As if.

Don't worry, be happy!