On a slightly different note, I heard perhaps the weakest defence of the "no-bailout" position yet today from Tim Congdon of Lombard Street Research. It was down there with Simon Heffer in the lameness stakes. Big props to me old mate "Foley" for finding this one - it was on the World at One, which I don't listen to much (normally having an afternoon nap around then).
Congdon essentially said that the government had stolen the banks from the shareholders. Effectively he accused the govt of creating the crisis to drive down bank share prices and then nationalising once prices fell below a certain threshold. The same accusations were levied at Tony Benn when he was Industry Secretary for the Labour Government in 1974 (not for banks but for other industries). It was b.s. then and it's b.s. now. Shareholders will actually gain a lot from this deal relative to what they would have had in the absence of the deal (which is little or nothing, as the banks would have gone bust, like Lehman Brothers). The Congdon interview will be available for the next few days from BBC iPlayer (World at One, 13 October - about 11 minutes in) but I couldn't find a permanent link on the web at the moment, unfortunately.
However, you can download some equally moronic commentary from Lombard Street's podcast page. There's 9 minutes of doggy-doo from a guy called Jamie Dannhauser (who looks about 17) which I couldn't find a direct link to, but it's called 'UK bank bailout - necessary help or dangerous govt interference?' Just guess which of those options Jamie puts his money on. The analysis is hackneyed 80s Thatcherite pro-deregulation, pro-private sector rubbish - exactly the kind of crap that got us into this mess.
See, that's why the arguments are so easy to win for the left at the moment - any time a right winger tries to argue with you, just point out the current economic crisis and the (Thatcherite and post-Thatcherite) policies that got us there. It's like shooting fish in a barrel at the moment out there. On Channel 4 news today, Labour left-winger John McDonnell totally annihilated an ex-director of Bradford and Bingley over the question of whether there should be democratic control of banking remuneration - because listening to a guy from Bradford and Bingley giving his opinions on the way out of the crisis is like getting advice from George Bush over how to stay popular in politics. They are busted flushes.
It won't always be this easy, but after 25 years when the neo-liberals seemed to be in the ascendancy most of the time, it's nice to watch these guys squirming around a bit.
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11 comments:
I agree! Who on earth listens to this rubbish and who on earth pays for it. Time and time again there are economic "analysts" and "researchers" - who are basically just economic journalists - that just write things to be contentious so that they can get their point heard. Its not rocket science what they do, but they like to shout loudly about it so that everyone can hear them whereas in reality they contribute very little to the country's economics!
I am regularly sent reports by "Researchers" and you have perfectly summised the utter tripe that my boss regularly pays for just in case there is something of interest in it.
I concurr with the above comment Lombard street Researchers are always popping up sprouting protentious b******s, especially the 17 year old dannhauser. I've come across his doggy doo before. He frequently flits between one point of view and another as does the rest of the Researcher community.
Noone has a bloody clue what is going on least of all the economic "journalist" brigade!
Excellent post, Comrade giroscoper.
We've seen sub-prime lending by banks thinking more about their short term profits than the long-term stability of the company. We've seen poor oversight of these institutions by the FSA, despite the powers given to it by our former Dear Leader Tony Blair.
How dare young Comrade Dannhauser suggest we let these institutions bear the responsibility of their actions by denying them a hand-out!
We must appreciate the kindness of Dear Leader Gordon Brown, by helping these troubled companies back onto their feet. Surely the prime ministerial decree will restore a fair and free market by concentrating the ownership of our country's financial backbone towards the desk of the supreme leader?
May the bright revolution find you on the winning side.
A situation of interesting time has transpired in our ever changing economic world. It is time that the ordinary buisnessman, the wealthy man and the poor man took note that the banking world is forever changing and is not as grand as once thought.
I think Jamie Dannhauser has a commanding knowledge of the economics of not only our country, but in fact the entire world. And his boyish good looks add to his charm. If only more economists were like him, it would make my day a lot brighter. x
BRING BACK THATCHER, SHE'LL SORT IT OUT!
I would love to know what you actually do in your day to day life, not very many people in this world get to have a nap during the day and spend the rest of it trying to find ways to sound superior. What gives you the right to talk about other people and their jobs? If you started that post saying that you had a good degree in economics from a good university I would take you more seriously. I am more inclined to believe that you have a crap job and are angry at everyone else because they are doing better than you are. This pro Labour crap is what got us into this mess, no-one gets anything for nothing yet people like you think the world should run by your clock just because you want it to. Grow up!
I'm often working the night shift.
Maybe Cogdon and lombard street are right, the government have leveraged themselves into a position of power. Is this such a bad thing, one answer is no because they'll invest sensibly and the tax payer will benefit in the long run. Or one answer no the government have have ballsed it up. Noone else is buying the overvalued shares still, the markets are still in freefall and if another major bank falls that is government backed, then we will truly be in a position of disrepair!
So for someone to have a valued opinion about the current climate they must have gone to a good university and have a good degree. Most of the city is populated by these very people, hmmmmm. Often the "well educated" banker are not educated in the slightest and are mere paper pushers and risk takers battling against one another to make more money. Being well educated has nothing to do with being able to give an opinion. The "uneducated" man is often in a position to give an unbiased well judged opinion. Its this sort of arrogant and ignorant "I know better than you comments" above that has slowly brought the banking system to the position we're now in.
Jamie may be a fat dwarf with no guns but my god his girlfriend's fit!
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