Rupert_Baehr Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 ...Our way of selecting politicians is ridiculously amateurish. Unfortunately 'we' (If by 'we' you mean the electorate) don't get much choice in the selection of politicians. Who chose the candidates for the constituency in which you live? Did the local Party choose them? (It seems reasonable that selection of a candidate for a particular party in a given constituency should be carried out by people who are members of that party and who live in that constituency.) Or did the people at Party HQ choose them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polo mint Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 And yet the IMF still say the UK is one of the best performing economies in Europe and will outperform the EU in 2012. I suppose that's why investors will buy UK bonds with a return of only 1.8% compared with 5% to 30% they can get by lending their cash to many other EU countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Unfortunately 'we' (If by 'we' you mean the electorate) don't get much choice in the selection of politicians. Who chose the candidates for the constituency in which you live? Did the local Party choose them? (It seems reasonable that selection of a candidate for a particular party in a given constituency should be carried out by people who are members of that party and who live in that constituency.) Or did the people at Party HQ choose them? Totally agree. The system is not fit for purpose, from short listing onwards. The sooner we all realise that our 'democracy' is an illusion, the sooner something might be done about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 And yet the IMF still say the UK is one of the best performing economies in Europe and will outperform the EU in 2012. I suppose that's why investors will buy UK bonds with a return of only 1.8% compared with 5% to 30% they can get by lending their cash to many other EU countries. The Euro could fall at any time, that's why they won't invest in EU countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 And yet the IMF still say the UK is one of the best performing economies in Europe and will outperform the EU in 2012. I suppose that's why investors will buy UK bonds with a return of only 1.8% compared with 5% to 30% they can get by lending their cash to many other EU countries. Which EU country is offering bonds with a 30% yield? - That would certainly be a risky 'investment' but less risky than the National Lottery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 The Euro could fall at any time, that's why they won't invest in EU countries. 'Fall' or 'fail'? It seems that Mario Draghi (President of the ECB) is prepared to go to any extremes to keep the Euro going but he may not get everything he wants. I have been told that house prices (particularly in German cities) are rising steadily. Not only are 'Greeks bearing Gifts Euros' (along with residents of other EU countries with weak economies) anxious to convert their cash to bricks and mortar in Germany, but Germans aren't prepared to part with their property for (weak) Euros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polo mint Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Which EU country is offering bonds with a 30% yield? - That would certainly be a risky 'investment' but less risky than the National Lottery. Greece,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2012/05/23/new-greek-bond-yields-climb-to-30/ New Greek bond yields climb to 30% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polo mint Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 The Euro could fall at any time, that's why they won't invest in EU countries. I always thought Germany was in the EU and Euro. Their bond yields are only 1.385%. http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2012/05/23/new-greek-bond-yields-climb-to-30/ If Greece could just renegotiate its debt everything would be okay…remember when that was what we were told? Turned out not to be the case as the new bonds which replaced the written-down Greek debt are now trading at 13 cents on the euro, sporting a 30% yield.Comparable German debt? 1.385%. The market clearly expects to be paid back in drachmas, if at all… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Greece http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2012/05/23/new-greek-bond-yields-climb-to-30/ New Greek bond yields climb to 30% Thanks I always thought Germany was in the EU and Euro. Their bond yields are only 1.385%. Germany is in the EU and it is in the Euro but the German economy isn't tied to than that of Greece. They make stuff. They export stuff. Investors are quite happy to lend money to the German government. They are fairly happy they will get their money back and they don't ask for 'danger money' to cover the risk of lending. Draghi would like the Germans to underwrite Greek debt but (for some strange reason) the average German isn't too happy with the idea of paying out continuously to bail out the Greeks. Two comments I've heard recently: "Why should I work until I'm 70 and send my money to Greece so that the average Greek can be given 14 months pay a year and retire at 53?" "The Federal government say there's no money to pay for a bypass for our town - Yet there's plenty of money to send to Greece. Perhaps the next time she's standing for election, Merkel will go after the Greek vote. - She's not getting mine!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 The best thing that Germany and the other stable states could do is to leave the Euro...:-) I hear there used to be a nice stable currency called the Mark. It's even got the same number of letters , you could easily retool the print designs and coin dies to accomodate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.