FlightMan

A quote from 2009.

George Osborne is set to face tough questions today about the coalition government's economic strategy after the Bank of England expanded quantitative easing by £75bn, a move he has previously called "the last resort of desperate governments".
Osborne said at the time: "The very fact the Treasury is speculating about printing money shows Gordon Brown has led Britain to the brink of bankruptcy."




I just heard Mr Osborne outside No.11 endorsing QE for the UK
Quote
In a letter to BoE Governor Mervyn King, Osborne gave the go-ahead to the central bank to inject a further 75 billion pounds into the economy via the purchase of UK government bonds and other private sector assets.

We're f'cked. Well and truly f'cked.

tony de wonderful

He hasn't got a clue, but Labour and Ed ***** are worse.

To think we are putting our faith in the gov to fix this?!

JTaylor

I've watched Newsnight every night for about 2 months; read the FT every other day for the same period; read every financial thread on here and elsewhere and listened to business leaders, first-hand and, whilst I see absolutely no value in spreading gloom and doom, agree with your closing statement. We're in unchartered territory and haven't the faintest idea what to do. That's why there's a lack of direction; nobody knows where we are.

tony de wonderful

Maybe, but why put faith in government to solve it? Government must be one of the most inefficient and useless social organs in history, especially when it comes to managing an economy?

We should have stuck to our faith in the principles of libertarianism and Capitalism back in 2008. They have worked quite well for well over two centuries. Capitalism has faced crisis before and adapted eventually.

mamoon2

I like him. Dave Cameron too.

I've more confidence of these lot getting us through this mess than any of the others

pslewis

Osborne and Cameron at the latest Economy Finance Meeting ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc52OMftJSk

Clueless

FlightMan

Whilst I too have no confidence in the NU Labour muppets, that is so

pslewis

I have no confidence in the Labour two Eds either - non at all ....... Brown and Darling, however - they would have the worlds confidence, they knew what needed to be done.

tony de wonderful

Brown and Darling hated each other though Pete.

To be fair Darling emerges as someone of some integrity and honesty. Brown a partial psychotic.

pslewis

We all work with people we don't like or agree with - but, we do what we have to do for the greater good ...... that's what Brown and Darling did - two financial greats.

tony de wonderful

Give it a rest Pete.

Was that the same Brown who gave away all the gold at rock bottom prices, let the public spending budget explode, enabled a massive house price bubble, dithered whilst Northern Rock almost went under?

pslewis

OH, aren't you sooooo smart with your hindsight goggles on!?

Put your brain in gear before engaging the typing fingers .....

Gold 'could' have fallen further when it was sold .... it didn't so it was an error.

As for the rest of the statements ... everyone was telling him to stop were they? Nah, didn't think so!! While you and the rest were borrowing beyond your means and buying your goods .. you weren't crying then, were you!?

tony de wonderful

The economy derailed on his watch Pete. He's the boss, so should take responsibility.

pslewis

You may not have noticed ... but, there were many Leaders across the world when the WORLD economy derailed.

Unless your blinkered view placed Brown at the centre of the universe? Yes, he stepped in to the centre to save the world .... but, he wasn't alone in the illusion of wealth for all ...

njkmrs

At least they have had the nouse to keep interest rates at .5%
And they did think about dropping them to .25% !!!
Now that would have been a bold move .

FlightMan

Britain's budget deficit in billions in 1997. Zero.

Britain's budget deficit in billions in 2010. £171 billion.

Yes, Gordon Brown. A true financial great.

TelBoy

Lots of UK banks downgraded today.

I just wonder when the bad news will stop coming...

pslewis

I want to know where to put my money ..... I'm very nervous about sitting on cash at the moment.

TelBoy

Why am i bothering answering you. You can put up to £100k in any bank account and it is guaranteed. You do not have enough cash for that to be relevant. Shut up and get on with it.

tony de wonderful

His sin is letting the public spending get out of control during a 'boom'...running massive deficits...a sort of inverse Keynsianism, that plus promoting asset bubbles such as housing with low interest rates, all meant we were in a poor fiscal position to bail out the banks and weather a global recession.

Oh yeah and selling the Gold....

markb_s1

:thumb :

pslewis

It's OK for you with no money saved!!

Clearly you don't even know that the limit is £85k!! Not £100k!!

And I was in Iceland Banks when they tore up their guarantees!!

If you are not up here with the big boys please don't embarrass yourself by commenting ...

TelBoy

Explain this. I dare you to explain this. I dare you.

pslewis

Explain why you thought the guarantee was £100k

You would know that it was £85k if you were a player ...... stay away from commenting on personnel finance until you are up with the big boys with big exposure to the risks being discussed.

When you get older you may have some savings to worry about .... until then ....

TelBoy

Ok, it's £85k, i'll take that one on the chin.

But don't make it personal against me Lewis, just don't go there.

RA Dunk

Pete you coulden't get your head any further up your own ******* ar$e even if you used a shoe horn with lube!!

pslewis

Chill ........................

you went personal first ....

pslewis

My head is in the sand ......

jef

iTrader: (13)

away from the above b*tch fight lol,

i really dont trust any government - when its public money and not a specific persons/companies (altho the country should be veiwed as a company) money is less tightly controlled, wasted much more easily without serious consequence for the individual.
is it hindsight or is it absolute stupidity - are there not people out there who advise governments, treasuries on trends, possible dips, and long term financial situations?

obv they cant predicict the future but half way onto our monumnetal debt, should someone not have stepped in then, an said stop now?

i really dont get how the situation was left for as long as it was without even a blink of an eye?

ive never trusted any uk government i seen, and im forced not to vote because there isnt 1 single party i want in power - all at some point have been proven liars through time, many corrupt in the extreme, and from my point of veiw shouldnt be involved in running our economy.

but it dont know who should tbh. do we need a central goverment with 1 figure head? that seems to absoarb so much money itself?

EddScott

I think you'll find that this round of QE is more to replace money lost in the system rather than the last round which was to get credit and liquidity moving again.

I was at an investment conference at Williams F1 of all places and the consensus there was that this round of QE was a good thing as long as they don't end up pumping too much in and causing another rise in inflation (which, from consensus, will drop off to about 3/4 by this time next year)

Also, this business about banks being downgraded is to do with this push to split retail and investment banks up. Retail will be saved by governments, investment probably won't. With the increased risk that the government won't save investment banks, the banks risk increases.

Those moaning about what our government are doing should really look at what is happening in Greece, Portugal and to a lesser extent Italy. At least our government HAS a plan.