Darling, I think you have a problem.

[davieG]

That's not what I'm saying. The trouble is, to be able to buy or even rent a property these days takes up a considerable chunk of most people's income. Around 80% of new cars purchased are taken on finance.

As I've already stated (post #39) we live in an "I want it now" world. Banks have made our greed easier to satisfy with obtainable credit, with very little questions or checks made.

The rising cost of property and most goods has meant that lending institutions have had to adapt/relax their stance in relation to individual credit limits. This has resulted in irresponsible lending.

The general public like the "have it now" scenario and easy to obtain credit facilities. The majority will then bury their head in the sand and point the finger of blame to all those except the ones at fault when things go awry.

The cost of property has risen because mortgages were too easy to obtain thus resulting in them being a higher % of income, rental income has risen on the back of this.

I've never understood why rising house prices is good anymore than any other product. The only people that benefit from it are those who inherit the property, property speculators, estate agents and conveyancing solicitors who charge % rates.

[Daggers]

Every time I see the thread title, I think as much.

[Thracian]

The cost of property has risen because mortgages were too easy to obtain thus resulting in them being a higher % of income, rental income has risen on the back of this.

I've never understood why rising house prices is good anymore than any other product. The only people that benefit from it are those who inherit the property, property speculators, estate agents and conveyancing solicitors who charge % rates.

Absolutely.

[Thracian]

The Financial Services Authority (FSA). A non-Government backed, independant watchdog.

The Government don't set the day to day rules. They will only intervene when things go pear-shaped like now.

Greedy Banks, who are only interested in pleasing their shareholders are mainly to blame for irresponsible lending.

So are you suggesting they shouldn't have intervened earlier? Enough people sounded warnings.

[Zingari]

i'm miffed

not one newspaper headline ( that i've seen anyway ) has been along the lines of " Darling budget of Dismay " ( or something similar ; i had a sportsman's bet on it too

[Phube]

Hmm, let me see:

• Putting a plug into the sink to stop anymore money vanishing in the form of working tax credit
  
  
• Stopping to bailout companies who are unable to produce marketable goods
  
• Not producing an insignificant short-term reduction in VAT at increasing NI which has the net effect of making the nation worse off
  
• Killing off the 'Selling home kit' which is just one more obstacle to the housing sector
  
• Increasing the level at which no stamp duty is payable on homes
  
• Maintaining the current approach to salary negotiations
  

...you want me to go on?

Isn't that what Maggie did? And you don't like her!

[l444ry]

As long as every country puts extra money into their economies at the same time, there should not be a "problem", for the time being at least. Where the hell do people think money comes from in the first place? Every pound, dollar or euro that has ever been printed is only a "promise to pay the bearer" based on the value of bonds which the government decides the worth of in the first place. The world has always functioned through increased debt.

Money isn't infinite. How can it be when the population of the world is growing daily? The whole world monetary system is built on governments deciding to pluck money from out of the air, give it to banks who then lend it out tenfold to whoever needs it.

To rub everyones nose in it, banks even charge interest. And where does the value of the interest come from? You guessed it.... it's plucked out of the air as well.

The world's economies need money to be circulating so that the whole sorry edifice can continue. The capitalist monetary system can only pump money into it's system as it has no other weapon.

The alternative is to "save" or reduce the money in circulation. The Great Depression was caused by this. Thatcher's ludicrous experiment decimated the country in the eighties because of this. If that's what people want then let them know the consequences of this folly.

[Munzie]

So are you suggesting they shouldn't have intervened earlier? Enough people sounded warnings.

I think that the Government need to intervene in relation to the FSA.

This is supposedly a specialist body capable of controlling our financial services system. All they appear to be interested in is generating revenue through fines of miss-selling insurance products.

Banks and Building Societies need increased regulation with regards to the products they sell and how they sell them. Current FSA boundries only look at investment or insurance backed plans. Personal loans, credit cards and mortgages all need to be pulled into line. It seems that only a credit crunch and a recession will lead lending institutions into screening customers for loans.

[Monk]

I blame the government for this because they are responsible to

1) the FSA

2) passing interest rate control onto the Bank of England

I'm amazed also at how the role of Standard & Poors and Moody's has been completely overlooked. They were the ones who rated the junk mortgage assets as AAA. How their CEO's position is still tenable I don't know.

The consumer slowdown could have been scaled back if interest rates were increased about 2 years ago in order to slow down the runaway train economy.

The government is totally to blame as they regulate the whole damn thing.

As for Darling's speech, it just goes to show what an absolute mess they are in and it's pretty scary to think how much debt this country will be in 2 - 3 years time.

[The People's Hero]

The FSA has seemed a shamble in all my dealings with them.

They should have more 'RULES' and less 'PRINCIPLES BASED GUIDANCE'.

[Munzie]

The FSA are not Government backed. They are an independent watchdog set up off the back of an EU directive. The Government do not control them.

Like many things, when situations get out of hand, the Goverment steps in and takes control. Normally, at this stage, the proverbial horse has bolted.

I'd like to see the FSA get bitch-slapped in public for not taking control of the situation much sooner.

As Thrac has pointed out, should the Government have intervened earlier? How long do you give supposedly specialist body, capable of controlling such systems, before stepping in?

[The People's Hero]

True, not Government backed, but given a decent amount of responsibility by the Government.

The FSA has questions to answer...

[Zingari]

you can go out and buy all woolworths shops for about a tenner

that's what i call getting costs down , well done britain plc

[Head Honcho]

I suppose he could have taken the easy option and risen interest rates as the Tories did during the eighties.

It seems many on here aren't actually old enough to remember that or are simply choosing to ignore it!!!

A £300 a month mortgage turning into £500 would soon have you forgetting about taxes I can tell you.

He could have accepted that people are going to lose their houses, businesses are going to go under and jobs will be lost anyway.

So wtf raise interest rates get some money into the coffers that way and start to rebuild the countries finances.

Fortunately for many of you he choose the long term option.

If you can't run a sustainable business or afford to pay the mortgage on your house then you should lose it wtf should the savers of this country have to bail you out with low interest rates.

[Bellend Sebastian]

I think that the Government need to intervene in relation to the FSA.

This is supposedly a specialist body capable of controlling our financial services system. All they appear to be interested in is generating revenue through fines of miss-selling insurance products.

Banks and Building Societies need increased regulation with regards to the products they sell and how they sell them. Current FSA boundries only look at investment or insurance backed plans. Personal loans, credit cards and mortgages all need to be pulled into line. It seems that only a credit crunch and a recession will lead lending institutions into screening customers for loans.

Amen, brother.

They bang on about capital adequacy when their own fees are one of the biggest drains on advisory firms' finances. Don't get me started on the FOS - we have to pay £400 when someone makes a complaint against us, however spurious. We've dealt with hundreds of the whinging tossers, and had about 4 complaints against us upheld, but have had to pay out thousands and thousands to FOS to tell people that we've done nothing wrong. Cheers lads

[Munzie]

I'd expect many more complaints unfortunately. When clients see the value of their investment portfolios in times such as these, they tend to forget about the risks associated (that were explained to them countless times before investing their wedge) and reach for the nearest complaint form.

Financial volatility...gotta love it!

[Bellend Sebastian]

We've hardly ever had a complaint about investment performance, mercifully. Fingers crossed that will continue - we manage people's expectations fairly well, and a lot of our clients are pretty old and have seen it all before anyway, or are so stinking rich they're not that bothered.

Oh to have sackfuls of cash

[l444ry]

“The modern day banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented. Banking was conceived in iniquity and born in sin. Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough money to buy it back again…

Take this great power away from them and all great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for then this would be a better and happier world to live in.

But, if you want to continue to be slaves of the banks and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let bankers continue to create money and control credit.” -

Sir Josiah Stamp Director Bank of England 1928-1941