Bailing out the banks

[melthebell]

Don't forget Gordon Brown used tax payers money to buy shares in UK banks to avoid his governments obligation to compensate account holders should a bank fail.

its not quite the same tho, taxpayers know their money is going to be used for whatever reason the government deems fit

having your own personal money in a bank tho and the government suddenly dipping into it when they see fit sucks

[quisquose]

Saving money in this current environment is folly. Interest rates are negative versus real inflation (and often, even versus the phony baloney official figures) meaning that your money is losing purchasing power while it sits in the bank.

 

Balanced against the fears of old age and redundancy though, so people do save. Also buying the latest car/gadget is going to depreciate faster than cash, as long as the government don't steal it. So ironically many do save more at times like this, and fear is more relevant than interest rates v inflation.

 

If the Cypriots had bought physical gold and silver, their thieving government wouldn't have been able to steal their money.

 

I imagine that the upwards pressure on the price of gold will increase with this move, and there are suspicions that it has been held artificially down recently, as the fear spreads.

[I1L2T3]

Stolen by whom? Who benefits from this set of actions?.

 

It's done to erode the value of government debt. So it's the government that benefits.

 

Look up "financial repression" on google

[NorthernStar]

Is this any different to what Labour was doing before the Tory's came to power?

 

I don't know, do you?

 

I'm pretty sure that anyone else would realise by now that pouring money into the bankers black hole is simply not working though.

 

I fail to see the relevance of your question, particularly as I'm not a great fan of the labour party.

[SevenRivers]

The levy on savings are the terms being imposed by the EU. Our beloved European Union are sanctioning the theft of hard working peoples money.

 

But I'm sure those that fail to see any wrong in the EU won't mind and wouldn't mind one bit if up to 10% of their savings disappeared overnight.

[Vague_Boy]

UK inflation is being deliberately held above target and above wage rises to erode the real value of debt.

 

That may be their (the BoE) intention but it really needs much higher levels of inflation to make any appreciable inroads into the crippling debt burden of the UK.

 

UK's debts 'biggest in the world' [bBC, 21 November 2011]

 

Although that link is several years old, the debt situation has hardly gotten any better, despite so-called "austerity".

 

True level of UK government debt exceeds £5 trillion

 

In order to pay off our debts, the pound would have to lose so much value that it would become worthless, much like in Weimar Germany where at one point they only printed banknotes on one side as they couldn't afford the ink (Source: When Money Dies).

 

Got gold?

[maxmaximus]

Saving money in this current environment is folly. Interest rates are negative versus real inflation (and often, even versus the phony baloney official figures) meaning that your money is losing purchasing power while it sits in the bank.

 

If the Cypriots had bought physical gold and silver, their thieving government wouldn't have been able to steal their money.

 

That would depend what you are saving for, if it’s for an house and house prices are falling by just 1% per year and you can get interest of 2% per year your purchasing power is increasing by 3% per year.

 

People in Cyprus with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%, Eurozone officials said after agreeing the deal.

 

Depositors will be compensated with the equivalent amount in shares in their banks.

 

It appears the government are actually taking the money from the banks, by selling shares, with the government getting the money and not the bank.

[Chris_Sleeps]

There are vast amounts of Russian money tucked away in Cyprus. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

 

I can't help but feel that the financial sector has become such a sordid mess, that it has undermined everything. Pensions are stolen, savings are stolen, jobs are gone, houses are lost; mess after mess after mess. It's all gone so terribly wrong.

[NorthernStar]

That may be their (the BoE) intention but it really needs much higher levels of inflation to make any appreciable inroads into the crippling debt burden of the UK.

 

UK's debts 'biggest in the world' [bBC, 21 November 2011]

 

Although that link is several years old, the debt situation has hardly gotten any better, despite so-called "austerity".

 

True level of UK government debt exceeds £5 trillion

 

In order to pay off our debts, the pound would have to lose so much value that it would become worthless, much like in Weimar Germany where at one point they only printed banknotes on one side as they couldn't afford the ink (Source: When Money Dies).

 

Got gold?

 

Got to get something other that sterling, looks like it's doomed to go down the pan for sure.

 

Just read a horrible storey but difficult to disagree with the way things are going - or gone.

 

http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/stock-markets/uk/right-side-why-i-welcome-the-collapsing-pound-62825

[I1L2T3]

That may be their (the BoE) intention but it really needs much higher levels of inflation to make any appreciable inroads into the crippling debt burden of the UK.

 

UK's debts 'biggest in the world' [bBC, 21 November 2011]

 

Although that link is several years old, the debt situation has hardly gotten any better, despite so-called "austerity".

 

True level of UK government debt exceeds £5 trillion

 

In order to pay off our debts, the pound would have to lose so much value that it would become worthless, much like in Weimar Germany where at one point they only printed banknotes on one side as they couldn't afford the ink (Source: When Money Dies).

 

Got gold?

 

I accept what you say about the level of the debts but this is being done in slow motion, effectively the UK is going through a slow motion default.

 

---------- Post added 17-03-2013 at 13:51 ----------

 

Saving money in this current environment is folly. Interest rates are negative versus real inflation (and often, even versus the phony baloney official figures) meaning that your money is losing purchasing power while it sits in the bank.

 

Saving money makes sense for some. In fact they might see the real value of existing savings being eroded and be tempted to save more to make up for it, to try and stay ahead.

 

It's the exact opposite of what the government expects to happen. They think people will be scared into spending their savings. They won't. And why would they if they are saving for specific things like their kids' future?