Greek contagion to spread to the UK

[wednesday1]

At the last General election, most people thought they had two choices.

 

Vote Conservative an put up with drastic cuts.

 

Vote Labour and put up with drastic cuts.

 

As it turned out, there was a third choice. Vote LibDem and put up with drastic cuts whichever of the others got into power. - But you also get the chance to kick Cleggy in the arse for going along with whichever of the other two he chose.

 

I said at the time that I wanted Labour to win the general election. Not because I felt Labour deserved to be elected, but rather because they dug the hole and they should be the party to get the country back out of it. They had earned the right to fix the F*** up.

 

Unfortunately, Labour didn't win. So now their supporters are trying to pretend that all the problems engineered by the Lying Scotsman were, in fact, mere myths until the Tories too over.

 

Just as they did when Thatcher was lumbered with a long history of Labour misrule.

 

There's no justice in the world!

 

 

I amazed that you find UK politics so compelling! Don't you live in Austria?

[Wildcat]

Ah I see the references to the posts emerge - after the thread was cleaned of course. I see also you take pride in gloating over the circumstances still which speaks volumes about your character. Someone working to keep a colliery open, in a different union (NACODS wasnot on strike unlike the NUM) is considered fair game in your viewpoint as many will see.

 

But that's what you get from organised militant Labour - blind unreasoning hatred. You never even met him but you still have the same Pavlovian knee jerk reaction. You sad little man. I shall waste no more time on you.

 

Maybe I should take that as an apology since you seem to have a habit dragging those lies against me up. Except your lies continue, even in the face of the evidence.

 

Not sure what you are talking about gloating over circumstances, it was you that dragged your father in to this and being hated by his community for his actions. For which I feel sorry for you, if it is true, but you have lied so much I am now inclined to doubt even that is true.

 

Which is a lot more sympathy or compassion than you expressed for Des Warren, disabled and ultimately killed by the state by the liquid cosh administered to him whilst in prison for an invented crime.

 

You should take a look in the mirror and take a long hard look at yourself.

[Vague_Boy]

Uk Has Third Biggest Budget Deficit In Europe

 

(Only just behind Greece! )

 

Britain’s shortfall in its finances amounted to 10.4pc of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010, according to data for each of the EU’s 27 member states from the statistics agency Eurostat.

 

That meant the UK had a bigger deficit, or annual shortfall, than the recently bailed-out Portugal and also Spain, which is viewed as the next euro-using nation to potentially need international aid.

 

The largest deficit in proportion to the size of the country’s economy was seen in Ireland, where the extra borrowing needed to shore up the banks left its deficit at 32.4pc of GDP.

 

Greece, which received a €110bn bail-out last year, was second with a deficit of 10.5pc, followed by the UK. Spain, at 9.2pc, and Portugal, at 9.1pc, were in fourth and fifth place.

 

LINK

 

"Spain, which is viewed as the next euro-using nation to potentially need international aid".

 

Told ya.

 

So much for 13 years of "careful" economic management by Prudence McRuin.

[BritPat]

LINK

 

CDS are insurance policies you can take out to cover a default by a company or country. The price of them is indicative of the risks inherent in lending to said company/country.rising CDS could lead to interest rates rising (both public and private), pound getting dumped, bond auction failures etc.

 

(Interestingly CDS markets flagged the problems in Iceland well ahead of the events.)

 

Of course, all this will be the fault of the new coalition government. As Wednesday1 and Titanic99 will doubtless tell you, all these problems sprang into being literally 5 minutes ago and have nothing at all to do with the wise leadership of the blessed St. Prudence of Brown.

 

Credit Default Swaps (that had insufficient resources behind them, known about by the regulatory authorities) served as a (phony) guarantee that fuelled the global marketing of Collateralized Debt Obligations ( the packaging of mortgage obligations arising from 125% mortgages advanced against depreciating assets to debtors that had no incomes, jobs or assets) that were then rated AAA by agencies for a fee.

 

CDS markets like the other bankster scams such as CDO markets are part of the ongoing problem !

 

Blame Brown all you like, he does deserve blame due to his complicity in the mass global fraud, however, Brown and Bliar were of course faithfully treading the Thatcher path laid before them, Cameron Clegg and Osborne will follow the same path.

 

The LibLabCon party are merely factions of what is in effect one neo-liberal laissez faire capitalist party.

 

The banksters will shag us ad infinitum, their mates in Government will facilitate the aforementioned shagging and levy a special shagee surcharge on the lot of us not to mention our children and grandchildren.

[Rupert_Baehr]

I amazed that you find UK politics so compelling! Don't you live in Austria?

 

 

No. - Next country over (for part of the year) and somewhere else for the rest of it.

 

A small (but still significant) amount of my income arises in the UK so I certainly have an interest in the value of that.

 

If I could be paid in another currency at a fixed exchange rate (and that rate was the rate in force before Gordon Brown took over) I would be somewhat less interested in British politics.

 

And somewhat better off.

[Vague_Boy]

Greek crisis could cost UK £336bn: British exposure 'significantly underestimated'

 

Britain could be hit with losses of up to £366billion from the collapse of the Greek economy, it has emerged.

 

The potential devastation of banks and other City institutions would be equal to 24 per cent of our annual national output, or £14,640 for every family in the UK.

 

Ministers had claimed that British banks have 'only' £2.5billion of exposure to Greek government debt, while the Bank of England says the potential losses would be just £8billion.

 

But experts last night said that UK financial institutions are in far more danger than previously thought, because banks are tied up in complicated derivatives and insurance deals.

 

They warned that if Greece defaults on its debts the crisis could cause a series of dominoes to fall, with Portugal, Spain and Ireland heading to the wall in turn.

LINK

 

All exactly as predicted way back in post #1, more than a year ago.

 

If only the lottery numbers were so easy to predict.

 

With a crisis like this, it's never the case that "no one saw it coming". That's just weasel politicians trying to excuse their own stupidity incompetence.

[Rupert_Baehr]

I don't think that the UK is going to be hit for 336Billion (though I don't doubt your figures.)

 

The Greeks do have some assets, but after the inevitable debt write-offs (call them what you want) the UK is going to take a significant haircut.

[Anna B]

Lots of people saw it coming Vague_boy, not just yourself. With a little cynicism I say it coming in 1997 when the Grinner got the keys to No 10, but by the early 2000's the writing was on the wall plain to see. Selling off the gold reserves was the final indicator that the Chancellor had lost the plot and I started planning for the fallout - mainly by buying as much of that cheap gold as I could get my hands on.

 

What's most surprising is how Brown *didn't* spot what was happening which of course leads to speculation that he did know and was either unwilling to, unable to or worse still desirous of the inevitable outcome occurring as it did.

 

A lot of people on here have been very rude and dismissive of Vague Boy's attempts to enlighten them. Now suddenly it's no surprise to anyone.

 

I only hope that when the blame and excuses start flowing in the media you will all do your best, as Vague Boy has done, to get the truth out there to the ill-informed general public who will swallow any old tosh they are given as to who's fault this all is.

 

Coz it's sure as hell not the poor old taxpayers...

 

No doubt all the usual suspects will be wheeled out however I for one have not 'been living beyond my means' anymore than 'we're all in it together' and it takes more than a few 'benefit scroungers' to get into this sort of mess. Etc.

 

Only when people start realising how they have been lied to and treated like idiots will they respond appropriately.

[Rowan22]

As if to prove my point! - yes I did, but as you will remember that I said only a few posts later that it was a wind-up!!!

 

Is the Tory equivalent of the "tin foil hat" made out of a neatly folded copy of the "Wealth Of Nations" do you think?

[Vague_Boy]

Portugal reels from credit downgrade to junk status as loan rate rises, stocks slump

 

Portugal’s financial plight deepened Wednesday, with borrowing rates jumping higher and stocks slumping after its bonds were downgraded to junk status. Spain and Italy were dragged into the downturn, adding new momentum to Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

 

Portugal’s hopes of slowly emerging from its debt crisis were knocked by ratings agency Moody’s, which downgraded Portugal’s debt four notches Tuesday and said the country will likely follow Greece in needing a second rescue package.

 

LINK

 

Oh dear!

 

Them dominoes keep a tumblin'