Once we have bailed the banks out and subbed them so they can meet their short term liabilities, they will be able to get back to their usual work of driving genuine wealth-creating businesses and hard-working people into bankruptcy because they are unable to meet their short term liabilities. These people are very possibly going to be forced into these difficulties in part because of the extra tax they are going to be paying to bail out the banks.
If these ****heads are so important that they cannot be treated the same as any other business and allowed to go to the wall, why weren’t they tightly regulated?
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I think they can and should be allowed to go to the wall, but then I don’t own shares, or big savings, so I would wouldn’t I? I think for there to be a healthier system in place the whole issue of money needs a rethink, speaking as one whose older relatives took her out for a much looked-forward-to birthday meal this summer then totally spoiled it by sulking because they’d lost 1% of their so-called wealth on some shares somewhere. Funny priorities, IMO.
As regards regulation, I’m reading this book ATM, which has some interesting ideas. He thinks they should be heavily regulated too.
I don’t think it matters whether you have shares or savings. We need to know that payment orders, cheques, cash withdrawals and so on will work, ALWAYS.
As far as the financial markets are concerned, they are supposed to be there so wealth creating business can raise capital.
This has not been the case over the recent past as the markets have become gambling dens with activity focused on siphoning off money from pension funds and the like into the pockets of the players.
“We need to know that payment orders, cheques, cash withdrawals and so on will work, ALWAYS.”
I don’t think such things should always be taken for granted though. No institution is infallible, is it?
“As far as the financial markets are concerned, they are supposed to be there so wealth creating business can raise capital.”
Oh, I thought they were just there so people could gamble, like a glorified bookie’s! Surely there’s never been a genuine altruistic motivation in them.
Yes, I agree, you should always keep a reserve of money under your mattress, just in case.
No, not altruistic at all. But if you want to start a small business, you can maybe raise capital by going to your friends and family and persuading them to invest in your business, by and large, they will not be altruistic either, they will expect a return on their investment. If you want to build a railway, you need to be able to draw on a wider group of investors and that is where stock markets come in. They also provide a means whereby investors can more readily sell their investments in businesses and buy others.
But I perceive that the stock market ‘players’ have lost interest in wealth creating businesses and have turned their collective back on proper investment. The point is to trade and make a turn on each trade. The more frequently you trade the more money you make, so real world businesses which may take years to turn a profit are not really of any interest. Someone has to pay for this and the only way it can be done is by bleeding real investors like pension fund members and the business owners as well.
Yes, so investing in such things isn’t all that wise ATM, is it? I wouldn’t touch a pension plan with a barge pole.
I think the really big catch with pensions is that they trap money. When it comes time to find some money to pay all those unfunded public sector pensions, guess where the Government is going to look first.
Yes, that’s my opinion too. And the criminal thing is that people don’t receive that sort of advice - only the sort that favours the system.
“..you should always keep a reserve of money under your mattress, just in case”
And some potatoes in your garden!
No. Not in the garden. Thieves may come in the night and steal valuables. Put them under your mattress too.
Oh noooo!
No room! It’s full of carrots! Will have to get a bigger mattress… now where’s me credit card? 
Credit card? You can’t afford a credit card. Pay them in carrots.
Ye gads! The man’s a genius!
Got a spare wheelbarrow I can borrow?
The word is rent. Not borrow. Rent.
Times is hard.
Oh! Er… ok. *Rifles through wallet* Will you take a cheque? Credit card?
No? What about this commercial paper I’ve got here? That’s worth tons of… erm… bad debt…
What about a nice UK government bond? You know you’re safe with one of those… don’t you?
Carrot?
Now you are talking.