Monetary Crisis … Borrow our way out?

  With the American election out of the way and some of the dust settled we can perhaps have a look at the way that things are starting to shape. Bear in mind that to sustain our current level of GDP we need to maintain our current levels of consumption spending. We have seen above …

Monetary Crisis … A New Bretton Woods?

  It has been almost comical watching the politicians falling over each other in the scramble to get on the fiscal band wagon … good old Keynesian stuff. If the economy is flagging give it a shot in the arm with fiscal medicine far quicker than any monetary stimulus. Then of course Gordo Brown starts …

Monetary Crisis … Things begin to unravel

  Buckle up your seatbelts the Keynesians are back on top and we are in for a bumpy ride. Well Flash Gordon doesn’t like to be outdone. He has unveiled his “world saving” deal … rescuing banks getting money moving again. True to form our commentators have hailed it as a master stroke of genius …

Monetary Crisis … USA is also part of the equation

It is perhaps time to look at the USA again. Capitalist Markets or the free economy can only work when unfettered from government interference. Since 1971 the USA economy has been run on a basis that they are the reserve currency of the world and they don't have to produce as much as they consume, …

Monetary Crisis … Hedge Funds and Short Selling

In the previous chapters we touched on the media and politicians preoccupation with Hedge Funds and short selling being the cause of the UK woes. Can short selling truly, cause the downfall of a company? The straight answer is no. HBOS wasn't killed by short selling … it was killed by its investors trying to …

Monetary Crisis … Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown's role   In the previous parts we saw how Gordon Brown threw off the shackles that forced Banks to be prudent. Many saw this as essential to “The City”, for only under a system where there were no blocks to the movement of funds in or out could “The City” truly become competitive …

Monetary Crisis … Reliance on Foreign Money

Where did the money come from? Before we can answer the question posed in the previous part, we need to recognise that the funds were largely the results of trading flows … those countries with exports exceeding imports have had a need to place the surplus flows in safe havens. In this regard the bulk …

Monetary Crisis … The Build Up

Understanding the build up   The 90's heralded the “The City” as the powerhouse of the UK economy and London became the leading Financial Centre in the world outside of New York. The tribulations of the early 90's had all but passed by 97 when Labour came into power. Gordon Brown was given a kick …

The Monetary Crisis … UK Perspective

      Where to now?     Oh! It was the American sub-prime market that caused the collapse of Northern Rock and the start of the Credit Crunch, or so we were told.   Oh how gullible we be … its all a matter of confidence, they say. Confidence in what I ask?   …

Is it time for a class action against Microsoft?

For too long, Microsoft have been a law unto themselves. Has the time not come for ordinary people to mount a challenge by starting a class action for damages? If we look at all the fanfare that accompanied the launch of Vista, we, the ordinary public, surely had a right to expect something that was …