I think it was Marie Antoinette … who responded to a call from the people for bread with "let them eat cake". The ultimate response from the people was "off with her head". Gordon Brown has at last gone one better, As the people of the world looked to the mighty leaders to do something, …
What can we hope for from this Summit? Each country taking part has its own agenda and priorities. The UK, with its economy very dependent on its Financial Services sector, needs to see foreign cash flowing back into "The City" and is looking to other countries embarking on money creation policies. The USA above all …
Now that some of the fanfare has subsided, perhaps we can try and understand quantitative easingits meaning and likely consequences. Quantitative easing is a newer term, for what was always a normal part of Central Banks open market strategies.The only significance is the scale of this effort. The general objective is to decrease the long …
The struggle for competitive advantage has begun! Quantitative easing or printing money by Central Banks buying up Government Bonds is the means for driving down long term interest rates within the country, as well as obviously increasing the amount of cash floating in the economy. Ultimately it must make the currency less palatable to hold …
In recent months we have continually been bombarded with the threat of deflation. As though this is a bogeyman to be avoided at “all costs”. Deflation “per se” is not necessarily a consequence of not printing money, however, it might well be a stage that one needs to go through to correct past excesses. Deflation …
During my commentary on the credit crunch, I had a brief look at the World monetary system which has been at the root of the current crisis. The cornerstone of the Bretton Woods agreement, convertibility of the USA Dollar into gold, was abandoned in 1971 and “free floating” currencies have ruled the roost. The early …
I feel I need to return to consider two of the points I raised in my commentary on the Credit Crunch. However, let me try and give some context to what I am saying. At the time of Gordon Browns announcement of of his “rescue package”, while he was still in that (“leave it to …
. So what is wrong in the economy? We are currently borrowing nearly 40p for every £1 we generate. Our interest rates are too low to enable a reasonable level of saving to generate a pension after 45 years. Our housing prices are too high. Our Government debt is …
I have always wondered about whether there is such a thing as a natural interest rate, interest rates have been used by countries for many things … probably the most important has been to regulate the value of its currency. The lower the interest rate the less outside funds attracted and the lower the value …
Let us go back and re-look at the events as they happened in the UK, with the help of a little hindsight. After a lot of dilly dallying Gordon decided on Nationalising the Northern Rock rather than let it go to the wall, or lend Branson many billions to take it over. Interfering …