Comments on: The MPC and the BBC http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/ Incisive and topical campaigns and commentary on today's issues and tomorrow's problems Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:18:37 +0000 hourly 1 By: hussein http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9618 hussein Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:57:03 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9618 dear /sir. I am very pleased to write you this message so as to greet you first of all . indeed I am very glad because I had your web. so , I would like to recommend you that I am language assistant in UNAMID in Darfur so I need your support to show me how to down load your mpc and listen to english without mistakes . lastly : thankyou so much ,please send the mpc now through my email. dear /sir.
I am very pleased to write you this message so as to greet you first of all . indeed I am very glad because I had your web. so , I would like to recommend you that I am language assistant in UNAMID in Darfur so I need your support to show me how to down load your mpc and listen to english without mistakes .
lastly : thankyou so much ,please send the mpc now through my email.

]]> By: pp http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9617 pp Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:01:57 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9617 www.ZOPA.com - the future of lending is here now. Traditional banks serve no useful purpose. It is typical for a labour government to sink taxpayers money into an industry just as it enters terminal decline. Why give money to the banks 'in the hope' that they might lend it out, when you can lend directly? http://www.ZOPA.com – the future of lending is here now.

Traditional banks serve no useful purpose.

It is typical for a labour government to sink taxpayers money into an industry just as it enters terminal decline.

Why give money to the banks ‘in the hope’ that they might lend it out, when you can lend directly?

]]> By: mikestallard http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9616 mikestallard Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:11:48 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9616 I am so glad you wrote this. I don't know either. Is it that the (needy) government is forcing them to lend them money by making them buy bonds at 16%? This would mean that they were, in fact, supporting the massive requirements of Big Government instead of doing what they were set up to do. Is it that the money is all there, but that a lot of it is tied up in worthless junk bonds based on sub prime mortgages etc? This would mean that the poor old banks wouldn't actually know how much real money they had at their disposal - or whether other banks were, in fact, solvent? Is it that Basel I and Basel II have genuinely made it impossible for them to lend because their reserves just don't meet the high standard demanded by the EU bureaucrats? Actually, bank lending has risen over the last ten years and is now on a high plateau (See "Burning Our Money" Website). I am so glad you wrote this.
I don’t know either.
Is it that the (needy) government is forcing them to lend them money by making them buy bonds at 16%? This would mean that they were, in fact, supporting the massive requirements of Big Government instead of doing what they were set up to do.
Is it that the money is all there, but that a lot of it is tied up in worthless junk bonds based on sub prime mortgages etc? This would mean that the poor old banks wouldn’t actually know how much real money they had at their disposal – or whether other banks were, in fact, solvent?
Is it that Basel I and Basel II have genuinely made it impossible for them to lend because their reserves just don’t meet the high standard demanded by the EU bureaucrats?
Actually, bank lending has risen over the last ten years and is now on a high plateau (See “Burning Our Money” Website).

]]> By: Steve http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9615 Steve Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:47:13 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9615 If all the banks have lost so much money on credit instruments, one has to ask the pertinent question......where has it gone? And the second question - how do we get it back? If all the banks have lost so much money on credit instruments, one has to ask the pertinent question……where has it gone?

And the second question – how do we get it back?

]]> By: rugfish http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9614 rugfish Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:13:20 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9614 Ahem ! I don't know whether I should throw my crystal ball away or rub it clean. BBC says:- Taxpayer to own 43% of superbank The Treasury is to own 43.4% of the merged Lloyds HBOS bank, after few shareholders bought new shares. Only 0.24% of the 7.5 billion shares HBOS offered to existing shareholders were taken up while Lloyds TSB saw only 0.5% of its offered shares taken up. The newly named Lloyds Banking Group will control about 25% of British customers' personal bank accounts and about 28% of the mortgage market. If this is not a "National Bank" in all but name, except to the degree of 8% more ownership, then I'll be happy to eat my bowler hat. Ahem !
I don’t know whether I should throw my crystal ball away or rub it clean.

BBC says:-

Taxpayer to own 43% of superbank

The Treasury is to own 43.4% of the merged Lloyds HBOS bank, after few shareholders bought new shares.

Only 0.24% of the 7.5 billion shares HBOS offered to existing shareholders were taken up while Lloyds TSB saw only 0.5% of its offered shares taken up.

The newly named Lloyds Banking Group will control about 25% of British customers’ personal bank accounts and about 28% of the mortgage market.

If this is not a “National Bank” in all but name, except to the degree of 8% more ownership, then I’ll be happy to eat my bowler hat.

]]> By: mikestallard http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9613 mikestallard Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:41:32 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9613 I have often thought about this. Is it what people mean by the "Service Economy"? Is it why we are (disastrously) producing semi-literate graduates in huge droves? The Chinese work very hard often in unpleasant surroundings. They save. They are paid next to nothing ($2,000 p.a. average). They are docile and flexible. They eat a lot less than we do. There are lots of them. They are extremely intelligent and have lively minds. We used to do all this in our glory days during Victorian times. Now we seem to assume that we have a right to live much more richly than the Chinese, even as we outsource our factories to China and buy up their sweat shop clothes. I reckon that between a third and a half of English people are unproductive at the moment (dole, incapacity, civil service, government jobsworths, OAPs), maybe more. The world is hard and economics deal in reality. Why should we live better than the Chinese? I have often thought about this. Is it what people mean by the “Service Economy”? Is it why we are (disastrously) producing semi-literate graduates in huge droves?
The Chinese work very hard often in unpleasant surroundings. They save. They are paid next to nothing ($2,000 p.a. average). They are docile and flexible. They eat a lot less than we do. There are lots of them. They are extremely intelligent and have lively minds.
We used to do all this in our glory days during Victorian times. Now we seem to assume that we have a right to live much more richly than the Chinese, even as we outsource our factories to China and buy up their sweat shop clothes. I reckon that between a third and a half of English people are unproductive at the moment (dole, incapacity, civil service, government jobsworths, OAPs), maybe more.
The world is hard and economics deal in reality. Why should we live better than the Chinese?

]]> By: rugfish http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9612 rugfish Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:34:43 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9612 Nothing is wrong, is the short answer. And thus private banking which is 'viable' has a place. But which are viable and non-viable except for our money which is made up by taxes ? You say a National Bank profit would be a 'tax'. Yet private profits taxes are net to the revenue whereas gross revenue of national profits could in fact lead to LESS tax not more simply because the rats who glibbly take handouts for their failings are still picking up corporate bonuses, fat salaries and buying yachts in the Bahamas whilst the very people who made their profits possible are having their homes and cars repossessed and being turned out of work. Incidentally, I'm not counting the private corporation which avoid paying tax at all, as many inevitably do, nor am I counting the losses made by some banks in relation to 'fines' which they'd struggle to pay if not for support by the taxpayers. Certainly a National Bank ( although it's a hypothetical pipe dream ), would be fairer to the masses of public and business who would undoubtedly use it and would also likely have a great deal more confidence in leaving their savings in it if such a bank actually existed. Nothing is wrong, is the short answer. And thus private banking which is ‘viable’ has a place. But which are viable and non-viable except for our money which is made up by taxes ? You say a National Bank profit would be a ‘tax’. Yet private profits taxes are net to the revenue whereas gross revenue of national profits could in fact lead to LESS tax not more simply because the rats who glibbly take handouts for their failings are still picking up corporate bonuses, fat salaries and buying yachts in the Bahamas whilst the very people who made their profits possible are having their homes and cars repossessed and being turned out of work.

Incidentally, I’m not counting the private corporation which avoid paying tax at all, as many inevitably do, nor am I counting the losses made by some banks in relation to ‘fines’ which they’d struggle to pay if not for support by the taxpayers.

Certainly a National Bank ( although it’s a hypothetical pipe dream ), would be fairer to the masses of public and business who would undoubtedly use it and would also likely have a great deal more confidence in leaving their savings in it if such a bank actually existed.

]]> By: oldtimer http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9611 oldtimer Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:25:45 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9611 The chances of lower taxes on pension funds as such are about zero. The final salary pension scheme is now a lost cause. The problem for members of those schemes that survive is this. How long can they survive, especially if the sponsor company has now gone out of business or is in serious financial difficulty. Many have been, or will be, unable to meet their obligations to scheme members. For example, it may not be possible to sustain annual increases for inflation. One small closed scheme I am familiar with had to revert to a fixed amount of pension per annum with no increase for inflation - and hope that assets available would last out the lives of the members. In real terms this means a relatively declining value of the pension payment for the scheme`s members. The chances of lower taxes on pension funds as such are about zero. The final salary pension scheme is now a lost cause. The problem for members of those schemes that survive is this. How long can they survive, especially if the sponsor company has now gone out of business or is in serious financial difficulty. Many have been, or will be, unable to meet their obligations to scheme members. For example, it may not be possible to sustain annual increases for inflation. One small closed scheme I am familiar with had to revert to a fixed amount of pension per annum with no increase for inflation – and hope that assets available would last out the lives of the members. In real terms this means a relatively declining value of the pension payment for the scheme`s members.

]]> By: Alan Wheatley http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9610 Alan Wheatley Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:09:55 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9610 Whether or not we are "living like world leaders even when we no longer are" may be an interesting academic argument but of not much practical benefit. What we want is to do the best we can as a nation. While there are no doubt those who could work harder, I think that in general we will achieve more by working smarter. Whether or not we are “living like world leaders even when we no longer are” may be an interesting academic argument but of not much practical benefit.

What we want is to do the best we can as a nation. While there are no doubt those who could work harder, I think that in general we will achieve more by working smarter.

]]> By: Alan Wheatley http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/01/08/the-mpc-and-the-bbc/#comment-9609 Alan Wheatley Sun, 11 Jan 2009 08:59:05 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=2559#comment-9609 The role you describe for a "National" bank seems to me to be exactly the opposite of what is wanted in a well regulated free market economy. It's profit making role is yet another form of taxation. What is wrong with private investors and shareholders making a profit? The role you describe for a “National” bank seems to me to be exactly the opposite of what is wanted in a well regulated free market economy. It’s profit making role is yet another form of taxation. What is wrong with private investors and shareholders making a profit?

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