Not content with focusing public ire on those social spongers who have the temerity to be unemployed or disabled, government has scored a great populist coup, and caused great rejoicing in the land of the tabloids, by decreeing that it is quite acceptable to kill burglars with machine guns, rocket propelled grenade launchers, tactical nuclear weapons or any of the other items the British householder keeps by them for such an emergency.
But if a burglar were to strip my home of its entire contents, it would not reach a tenth in value of the money that is going to be taken from me in taxation by government for the rest of my life to fund the bank bailouts in which my cash was given to reckless and incompetent bankers to cover their gambling losses.
Not only have they taken all my money, the majority of the money I shall be paying to cover it for the rest of my life, will consist of interest to the bankers because the government borrowed at interest from the bankers the money it then gave gratis to the bankers to bail them out.
And, as doubtless you will have noticed, nothing changed. No reduction in massive salaries and bonuses, no split of casino from high street banking, no transaction tax to deter multiple speculative trades. A million more unemployed, but none of them investment bankers – they have however sacked over a hundred thousand mostly female staff from their high street branches, which were the only sensible and profitable bit of the operation. No bankers in jail, not even for LIBOR fraud. Quantitive Easing, or printed money, is given not for infrastructure projects to produce growth, but given to banks to improve their liquidity. They do not lend it on to companies but pay it to themselves, as bonuses.
Forget burglars. Shoot a banker.
The RBS chairman is alluding that there were other reasons for Santander pulling out. Not enough pesetas in the vaults perhaps?
RBS queries Santander branch sale collapse
Sir Philip says IT problems can always be overcome
RBS bank branch sale collapses
Peston: Dilemma over RBS break-up
Direct Line float price unveiled
The chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland has challenged Santander’s explanation for pulling out of a deal to buy 316 of its branches.
The Spanish bank has pulled out, saying the deal was taking too long.
It was thought that integrating the bank’s computer systems was proving difficult, but Sir Philip Hampton said IT challenges could always be overcome.
He hinted that Santander may have decided that now was not a good time to be taking on new businesses.
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19937461
Santander’s IT problems have been legendary in the past. Helpful humans have had to process simple transactions manually.
Global CEOs dream about outsourcing IT to centralised global IT providers. It costs a fortune in line rental and doesn’t work.
Temporary systems which do work have to be maintained alongside the centralised systems that don’t. Enough to kill off any business, even banking.
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Those ghastly bankers couldn’t have invented all those dodgy loans without a willing public subscribing to them. Just as with the 1990s, the whole economy was based on fluff ruthlessly promoted by the media and almost every economist, pundit and property porn operatives like estate agents as though it was a real and viable way to go about business.
These cycles of boom and bust have a long history and what is staggering is that even now no-one has really learnt the lesson. This is evident by huge numbers of house owners who are still clinging to the illusion that their property is worth double what it actually is.
What Leonard said – again.
The Today programme this morning had a suit from Goldman Sachs telling us encouragingly that the housing market was on the mend. That is to say that property is to become even less affordable. But hey, the punters who paid double the odds in the hope of doubling again are not going to lose their stake. We bailed out the bankers, and we’re bailing out the gamblers, so all’s well with the world.
And see Craig (above) on Spain. Now’s your chance to buy a romantic Madrid flat which will treble in value when we’ve pumped up the bubble a bit.
The bigger the crime, the more likely it is, no one will be held accountable or punished.
Interesting that this Committee have Paul Volcker along to give evidence. He is former Chair of the US Federal Reserve. Says a lot.
17 October 2012.
The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards will hold its second public session on Wednesday 17 October with Paul Volcker giving evidence.
Witness
2.00pm in The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Paul Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/professional-standards-in-the-banking-industry/news/oral-evidence-with-paul-volcker/