Except in this case we're all praying that the bill doesn't end up that big in the end. That's the difference between Gordon's plan and Bush's, we hope!

[ Parent ]

So, it is like fantasy football, but with money?

I notcied that the reporters have picked up on this and are using lines like "Gordon's never so happy as when he is spending billions" and then they promptly followed it up clips of a genuinely smiling Gordon spending billions here, billions there, cracking jokes about banks going bust, and I wonder how this is going to play out with the public.

Taxpayers have never responded well to politicians that enjoy handing out huge sums of largesse unless it is going into their taxpaying pockets.

I know Gordon feels comfortable in the finance zone and that he feels (rightly so) that he has the tories on the back foot, but the potential for negative publicity is massive, especially since so much is out of Gordon's hands and depends on overseas markets.

[ Parent ]

It's coming from exactly the same place as the money that's caused all the problems to start with - Fantasy Land.

It doesn't exist and it never will do.

What will hapen is the government will magic some IOUs known as gilts. They will swap these IOUs with the banks for dirty IOUs.  The banks will then use these gilt IOUs to lend mone to a thing known as the 'dickhead'.  This thing will then use it to support weird things known as HDTV,  twoweeksonthepissinalgarve and other bizarre things.  The tab for all of this will be picked up by a thing known as 'AAA' rated 'dickhead' (also known as the lesser-walleted taxpayer),  because they are good for a few bob till pay day.  Then when it all goes wrong AGAIN, it will suddenly transpire that 'dickhead' is in fact the same thing as AAA dickhead and there is none of a scarce substance known as 'real money' (not to be confused with money) to actually cover it all.

In the middle are two completely self-sustaining species - wanker-banker & con-merchant-politician.  These co-exist by feeding on each others excreta in a mutually destructive relationship and because they go round in cirles, everything else is committed to go round in circles around them.

Occasionally there is fragmentation known as derivatives. These derivatives are preyed on by a disgusting creature known as trader.  Trader is a bit of a chameleon and while the sun is shining  both wankerbanker and con-merchant-politician submit to him and coo, apparently spell bound by his charming song.  However as soon as the clouds appear on the horizon they both become sullen and become aggressive/defensive with each other whilst trader disappears to the pub prior to downing 50 paracetomol and slashing it's wrists.

During the autumn they migrate to Iceland. 

[ Parent ]

[ Parent ]

The idea that setting up the FSA is responsible for this crisis is desperate stuff from the Tories.  Did you happen to notice that the USA has an even bigger crisis on its hands.  The deregulation ball that was set rolling under Thatcher and Reagan certainly is the main reason how we ended up in this mess.

[ Parent ]

It's different. Notice how the demutualised banks which offered sub-prime mortgages, and believed you didn't need to finance saving deposits through lending have failed. Similarly, the mutual building societies are stable, and more and more people are joining credit unions. And as as big a supporter of the Co-op party as Labour, I think the shift to credit unions is a good thing.

[ Parent ]