Remove the economic levers from politicians.

Well done Goldman Sacks of lovely cash-theyre doing so well after the collapse of Lehmann Bros. their staff will collect £14 billion in pay and bonuses this year.The new head of R.B.S ( £24 billion taxpayer loan)Stephen Hester is to receive £10 million for "turning around" the bank.This is a demanding job says the balding banker.Already some bankers are making off noises about taxes on bonuses-their arrogance is laughable.
What safeguards are in place to protect the taxpayer in the future?When the next boom comes will the next Conservative government( ?) raise taxes to stop property prices from rocketing?Will they take back the right to increase/decrease interest rates?The problem with these politicians is they need the vote and can you see them increasing taxes or asking the BoE to increase interest rates coming up to an election-thought not.It would be electoral sucide.The best way would be for all economic activity to be taken away from governments and given to non-political intellectuals who dont have an axe to grind.
Already I have noticed a marked reluctance of this Labour government to deal with the recklessness of the banks-such as the bonus culture and the 100% mortgages.Is the government on call to the banks or is it the reverse,and can we expect more pandering from the Conservatives-their natural allies?Is Mr Osbournes attack on the bonus culture to be taken seriously or merely a populist ploy to embarass New Labour?It certainly didnt go down too well at the Conservative conference so his attack on the bonus culture must be treated with suspicion.

A microcosm on Britains economic woes.

Sit back and relax-I want to tell you a story about a collapsed property "empire".Once upon a time there was a bank called the Bank of Scotland who lent huge wads of cash to property developers and to the burgeoning buy to let entrepreneurs.One such character was called Grant Bovey who at one time had the biggest buy to let business going called Imagine Homes.Well imagine what happened-it collapsed with fifty million pounds of debt.Grants wife -the television superstar Anthea Turner said its not about the money"its about saving face".Well it is about the money, since H BoS was given a cash injection by the taxpayer-you and me-are taking on twenty million pounds of Grants debts.
Weve hit gold said Anthea in 2003-actually iron pyrites Turner.The Bank of Scotland who funded this operation must have looked into the background of people like Bovey.This man had the ability to "bounce back" from failed businesses which collapsed.Yet this once proud bank has now disappeared thanks in part to unbelieveable stupid lending policies.
What can the shareholders of the (shrinking) banks do in the future to stop the scattergun lending policies of useless banks?What about banning loans to people with a bad business record?How can a man like Bovey get huge loans?Sadly this is now water (taxpayers cash) under a bridge since HBoS,has gone another sad case swallowed up by Lloyds.Will lessons be learnt-doubtful-come the next boom its business as usual-"who wants millions for buy to lets,no checks,no problem.

Useless Banks.

Being a small shareholder in the Bradford and Bungley building society I received a letter from the Independant Valuer to remind me that shareholders may be compensated.I expect little or nothing but feel sympathy for the people who bought the rights issue-they have been shafted twice over.
One of the questions on the "frequently asked questions" is about the rights issue"I feel I was misled.Will I be compensated?"The real question is not about compensation but about what happened to the money that was collected in the rights issue.I think the compensation wont cover the cost of buying a few thousand shares when they were low.Is a list of debtors owed money to the old society available?Come the next boom there will be less competition and more profits for the survivors-but will greed rule again-followed by another cull-"consolidation".Notice the huge profits made by Goldman Sacks,but of course Lehmann Bros are no longer competition.
What is this government and others doing about a future greed binge fest-nothing.Are they all running scared?