I hate that bearded copycat self publicist, he doesnt need to worry does he?
The baanks were happy to risk all our savings on risky foreign loans and then go cap in hand to the Govt when it went wrong. I have moved business accounts to one that didnt and my personal account to another different one. The bankers involved were cunts yet when a business needs money they cant go anywhere! The banks should have been allowed to go to the wall, savers were protected and the mortgages would have been bought as live debts by baks not exposed to foreign shit. dumbarse brown was, sorry is a cunt!

Originally Posted by ugly

I hate that bearded copycat self publicist, he doesnt need to worry does he?
The baanks were happy to risk all our savings on risky foreign loans and then go cap in hand to the Govt when it went wrong. I have moved business accounts to one that didnt and my personal account to another different one. The bankers involved were cunts yet when a business needs money they cant go anywhere! The banks should have been allowed to go to the wall, savers were protected and the mortgages would have been bought as live debts by baks not exposed to foreign shit. dumbarse brown was, sorry is a cunt!

I love the smell of a rant in the morning !

look, this is a banking/service country. Manufacturing is just seen as old hat, and the trouble with entrepreneurs is that they are out just for themselves, planning the country just doesnt matter to them, in fact a lot of them have said fuck it and moved out anyhow ! Its all just sharks in the water Ugly...how many "british" products are bolted together chinese bits ?

The only way to fuck the banks and stop being their bitch is to be totally out of debt and growing your own spuds. the system is OWNED by them... and they want their money back. Capital is the means of production... therefore it could not be allowed to fail.. just like a medieval peasant hoped for a good harvest for the land, even though he would only own a tenth of the produce...

Originally Posted by detmold_padbrat

I love the smell of a rant in the morning !

look, this is a banking/service country. Manufacturing is just seen as old hat, and the trouble with entrepreneurs is that they are out just for themselves, planning the country just doesnt matter to them, in fact a lot of them have said fuck it and moved out anyhow ! Its all just sharks in the water Ugly...how many "british" products are bolted together chinese bits ?

The only way to fuck the banks and stop being their bitch is to be totally out of debt and growing your own spuds. the system is OWNED by them... and they want their money back. Capital is the means of production... therefore it could not be allowed to fail.. just like a medieval peasant hoped for a good harvest for the land, even though he would only own a tenth of the produce...

From memory, the UK banking/financial services sector doubled from about 5% of GDP in 2000, to a high of about 10% in 2008 - that is quick growth down to deregulation and international banks shifting some of their more iffy operations to London. Now expect to see at least 30% being culled just because of market conditions.
There must be something within the other 90% or so of UK income generating capacity that could feasibly respond to a bit of targeted stimulus....

I said 20 years ago that the move forcing all employees on the bank was a bad thing. I have gone years without loans and cards less the mortgage and soon will be there again but rant it is but no points for spotting!
What I hate isnt capitalism but the fake champagne socialists bailing out banks with our money which did cost me a fucking really good job and set me back at least 3 years in my estimation if not longer but whats really poor is then they do feck all with the moeny that we gave them apart from building up their bonuses and still stiffing the smaller firms.
Without money in the economy there is death to the smaller businesses who cant shut a shop in a town just because the local factory is shut and everyone is skint unlike Tescos etc!
I agree about bolt together chinky shit, in fact in the work I do get I do my utmost to ensure stuff is procured from UK sources where its still made there!

Originally Posted by ugly

I said 20 years ago that the move forcing all employees on the bank was a bad thing. I have gone years without loans and cards less the mortgage and soon will be there again but rant it is but no points for spotting!
What I hate isnt capitalism but the fake champagne socialists bailing out banks with our money which did cost me a fucking really good job and set me back at least 3 years in my estimation if not longer but whats really poor is then they do feck all with the moeny that we gave them apart from building up their bonuses and still stiffing the smaller firms.
Without money in the economy there is death to the smaller businesses who cant shut a shop in a town just because the local factory is shut and everyone is skint unlike Tescos etc!
I agree about bolt together chinky shit, in fact in the work I do get I do my utmost to ensure stuff is procured from UK sources where its still made there!

I don't think anyone was forced into the banking sector, it just seemed like a quick win 10 years ago, and even if it was not a free lunch, LV vouchers were available...
I really cannot keep track of whether the UK is having a love bankers or hate bankers week, there is so much contradiction and bullshit flying around. UK could take the lead (with 45% of Europe's banking industry) in hammering out regulation across the whole EU - safe in the knowledge that Europe is the most significant timezone in banking and cannot be circumvented. Instead, UK has the back seat in a shit load of inbound EU stuff, and is trying to apply UK regs piecemeal to a mix of UK (including state owned!!) and international entities in London!

The bail out was needed, the critical issue is the situation and circumstance that led to it.....

But the whole UK economy has gone a bit weird, mega-supermarkets selling everything from mortgages to muesli, and a sudden realisation that store cards and consumer debt cannot provide a stable growth base....

Everyone was forced into having a bank account through the wages system about 20 years ago. Try and get a job anywhere without the bank having your money for free?

Originally Posted by ugly

Everyone was forced into having a bank account through the wages system about 20 years ago. Try and get a job anywhere without the bank having your money for free?

Sorry, I see what you mean. But bank accounts are not fundamentally evil if you make them work for you...

Agreed but people with no need or desire ended up having to ask banks for their money each month rather than having cash just for the convenience of the employers!

Originally Posted by ugly

Agreed but people with no need or desire ended up having to ask banks for their money each month rather than having cash just for the convenience of the employers!

I see it in rural France, cash locked in cupboards everywhere. My neighbor runs his firewood business on 2 sheets of A4.......but he still pays me monthly for his supply of German 10x5lt Warsteiner party barrels by cheque - which I then have to make a special trip into to town for to pay into the bank!

Originally Posted by ugly

What I hate isnt capitalism but the fake champagne socialists bailing out banks with our money which did cost me a fucking really good job and set me back at least 3 years in my estimation if not longer but whats really poor is then they do feck all with the money that we gave them apart from building up their bonuses and still stiffing the smaller firms.

If I were the government I would be far, far harder on the banks. Bonuses seem to be out of all proportion to the expertise being displayed. You pay exceptional bonuses for exceptional performance yet mediocre investment bankers get massive bonuses while working in departments performing well below par.

The banks blather about the 'loss of talent' if they don't pay market rates. With the current round of redundancies (and the more that will follow when the impending recession arrives) there aren't enough jobs out there for a 'brain drain'. Exceptional investment bankers might be able to move, but the average ones will be desperate to hang onto their jobs.

Time for the government to call the banks bluff.

Originally Posted by ugly

Without money in the economy there is death to the smaller businesses who cant shut a shop in a town just because the local factory is shut and everyone is skint unlike Tescos etc!

The closure of shops seems to be gathering pace where I live (Hertfordshire). A lot of the shops that have closed seem to be the 'marginal' ones. They were either selling really offbeat products for which there is little market when money is tight, or they copy-catted the current fad (like fish pedicures). What I have noted is that many of these failing shops don't seem to be able to adapt. Their only response to their problems is to cut prices - they never seem to look at other solutions like trying to find product ranges a little different from the competition or by redressing the shop interior so it looks different and fresh compared to their neighbours.

Granted, it is very difficult to survive in these times, but a lot of these shops that are closing seem to have given up the fight and aren't prepared to try something a little different to survive. Yet the information that would help them survive is out there - it just they don't seem to want to go and get it, read it and learn from it.

Originally Posted by ugly

I agree about bolt together chinky shit, in fact in the work I do get I do my utmost to ensure stuff is procured from UK sources where its still made there!

From what I've seen of Chinese manufactured goods, the quality can quite often be poor. The problem is that people only look at the initial purchase cost of the merchandise, not the lifetime cost. Its no good buying something at 2/3 of the price if it only lasts half as long - because (allowing for premature replacement) its effectively cost you 1/3 more than the better quality product you could get from a western manufacturer. The problem is that small firms who buy Chinese intermediates and manufactured goods don't have the data collection skills or financial expertise to work out that what might appear cheaper at first is actually costing them more in the long term.

One solution to the problem might be for the government to put together a little booklet on how to do the analysis and send it round to small firms. If they don't gold plate it and are sensible about it, it could be done relatively cheaply and would benefit the UK economy.

Wordsmith