Do you ever wonder....
why every government in the developed world is pulling out so many stops to protect the banks?
Surely what matters to the people is having enough food, fuel and shelter. We like to trade things with each other too - to swap things that other people need for things that we need. Really, the banks should have nothing to do with that.
But our government is using anti-terror laws to freeze assets belonging to companies from other countries? (Surely when you deposit funds in a bank, your interest gains are offset against the risk of that bank going bust?)
And why have our councils got £millions of spare money to invest in Icelandic banks anyway?
The funniest thing I heard today was a goverment minister - didn't catch his name - on PM this evening casually asserting that the councils might not be compensated by the government for their losses, because: "council investors are different from private investors in that they're intelligent." !!
Anyone with any intelligence wouldn't have their money in any bank ATM - they'd be investing it in agricultural land.
Surely what matters to the people is having enough food, fuel and shelter. We like to trade things with each other too - to swap things that other people need for things that we need. Really, the banks should have nothing to do with that.
But our government is using anti-terror laws to freeze assets belonging to companies from other countries? (Surely when you deposit funds in a bank, your interest gains are offset against the risk of that bank going bust?)
And why have our councils got £millions of spare money to invest in Icelandic banks anyway?
The funniest thing I heard today was a goverment minister - didn't catch his name - on PM this evening casually asserting that the councils might not be compensated by the government for their losses, because: "council investors are different from private investors in that they're intelligent." !!
Anyone with any intelligence wouldn't have their money in any bank ATM - they'd be investing it in agricultural land.
posted by Gill at
9:23 AM
5 Comments:
According to a family member of mine, the councils put money in these accounts briefly. This isn't spare money they have sitting around for years on end, it's stuff like the money for wages, which they move around the place to get best interest rates at different moments.
Oh right - and interest rates were their only consideration? It's a pity the councils weren't better regulated too then, IMO. Perhaps they need to be - it's a lot of money to lose!
The councils should have been a little more patriotic and invested the money in British banks. At least they are getting bailed out.
I wonder how much the people who invested this money on the councils' behalf were being paid? I think they should be better regulated, too.
I was once told, not long ago, by a council benefits official that we could quite easily live on £30 a week, food included. Wonder how many people, council workers included, might actually end up having to do this?
I've been told several times over the years that I'm staid and boring and lazy when it comes to finances. that I ought to shop around and have a credit card, get a morgage, use an internet bank, take on a bank loan, invest in shares etc.
I went with my bank as a teenager as my parents were with it... and it hasn't been mentioned in the news yet.
sometimes lazy means hassle free!
"The councils should have been a little more patriotic and invested the money in British banks."
I thought the same, Min. Or at least more level-headed instead of just mindlessly chasing the highest rates. Higher rates = more risk, or should do anyway.
"I was once told, not long ago, by a council benefits official that we could quite easily live on £30 a week, food included. Wonder how many people, council workers included, might actually end up having to do this?"
*Splutter.* They do 'ave 'em, don't they? One that came to our house told me that they conduct the visits "to see whether people are running a car, because they shouldn't be able to afford that." *Rolls eyes* because bus fares are cheaper, for a family of six, aren't they? Not..
Mamacrow, yep, looks like you've been wise :-)
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