Monthly Archives: December 2008

This morning we learn that the government has hit a target it set for itself, by sending back some prisoners to their home countries. One cheer for that. The Conservatives have shown that many were let out early, and a lot are still not returned to their homelands. We also need to remember that the [...]

There will be no new posting tomorrow, Christmas day. I have a turkey to cook and a good wine to drink. Normal service will resume on Boxing Day for those who are not rushing off to the sales, and for all who have already broken or consumed their Christmas presents. A happy Christmas to you [...]

I am pleased that the Conservative party has come up with more ideas for tackling homelessness, and understand their media savvy in launching them at Christmas. However, as I have to remind people at this time of year, the Christian story is not about homelessness as the media implies. The Bible is quite clear. There [...]

I read that some senior clergymen want to lose their seats in the Lords, and some Labour MPs think it would be another glorious chapter in their modernising of Britain to abolish an Established Church in England. I wonder if by chance they have at last been reading some English history, and have stumbled over [...]

Sir John Gieve’s interview with Robert Peston was very worrying. There should be no instant history from the participants fighting the banking crisis, as the problem is not yet resolved. Anything they say could damage confidence further. They need to give us the figures and make the official statements they need to make, but they [...]

I suppose it is progress of sorts that the Bank of England now admits it got it wrong in 2003-6, when it allowed excess to build up in the banking system by keeping interest rates too low. When will they also admit they got it wrong in 2006-7, when they kept interest rates too high, [...]

In the final analysis a subsidy is a subsidy. We are in that phase at the moment when governments are trying to dress it up. Let’s look at two such schemes – the German employment scheme and the putative UK R and D scheme. I have been told that in Germany there is a current [...]

BUSINESS IS VERY SIMPLE. If the money you collect from your customers exceeds the money you spend delivering the product and service, it works. If the money from customers falls below the costs you are in trouble. Borrowing to pay the losses cannot solve the problem. It makes it worse, as you have to pay [...]

I read in the Labour press this morning we all need to go out and shop til we drop – but showing suitable responsibility at the same time. I ventured out this morning to buy a couple of newspapers and some fresh bread. I added seasonal marzipan to my basket so I could ice the [...]

HSBC, a typical large regulated bank, in 2007 had a balance sheet showing total liabilities of $2,354 billion. Shareholders had put up $5.9 billion in capital, and had accumulated total share capital and reserves of $128 billion. In other words, the bank was able to gear itself at around 20 times its shareholders capital. That [...]