Many politicians are trying to talk the economy up saying that the worst of the recession is over and recovery will start by the end of 2009. This is certainly the stance of the Labour government with Alistair Darling estimating in his budget speech a lower decline in the economy than a raft of think [...]
The quarter one GDP figures released today showed the UK economy shrank by 1.9% just two day after Darling had predicted a 3.6% decline for the whole year. This shows how far off the market he was and was generally trying to deceive the mass of the population. This means that the public cuts will [...]
Budget is to pay for bail out of banks
Unable to raise money on financial markets because our IOUs (Gilts) are worth nothing – in line with Portugal and Greece
Deficit for 2009 at over 12% biggest of the G20 countries
Big cut in public spending and over the near term and medium and long term
Tax rises after [...]
In an incredible admission that a wave of countries from the periphery of the European Union to emerging markets to Eastern Europe to major countries such as the UK, the G20 has quadrupled the size of the International Monetary Fund to an incredible $1 trillion.
This fund will be used to bail out bankrupt countries and [...]
The rally in equity markets has come to a sudden stop with global markets down 5% in two days after a sharp rally off the low for this bear market on 8/3/2009.
In the 1929 crash the Dow Jones fell 48% in two months only to recoup 50% of these losses in the following five months. [...]
In a classic asset stripping exercise the government has broken up the Dunfermline Building Society. Acting as asset strippers they have sold off the good parts to the Nationwide and given the toxic parts to us the public.
The old mutual business of deposits with mortgages backed by these deposits has been bought by Nationwide – [...]
The £250bn insurance of Lloyd’s toxic assets is another con that the tax payer will pick up billions of pounds of losses for. Lloyd’s are paying for the insurance by printing £16bn worth of shares and selling them to the government. They then give the government back this money to pay for this insurance! In [...]
The government’s announcement of another £75bn to be spent on buying government and corporate bonds is in effect a bank bailout right across the banking sector.
The money is being printed and will used to buy these bonds from next Wednesday. But the only organisations that hold these bonds are bank and pension and insurance funds.
Normally [...]
Darling in an interview in today’s Daily Telegraph announced the government is to spend up to £200 bn on buying back government debt. This in effect printing money to try and drive interest rates down by pushing the yield on government bonds down by pushing their price up and pumping cash into the system so [...]
Eastern Europe has borrowed $1.7 trillion abroad, much on short-term maturities. It must repay – or roll over – $400bn this year, equal to a third of the region’s GDP. This will be difficult because most lenders wish to rein in high risk debts and need the loans to supplement their diminishing capital.
Not even Russia [...]
