TalkingSense

So, I guess we're all agreed on this forum that house price inflation began in late '90s and continued onwards due to deregulation of money creation by private banks. This includes Building Society de-mutualisation, and allowing banks into the residential mortgage market. I have since been following Prof Richard Werner, Prof Steve Keen and read Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson. Also 'Debt: The First 500 Years' by David Graeber and 'Austerity, The History of a Really Bad Idea' is a great book too. There are 3 sources of creation of money: a) BOMD (Bank Originated Money and Debt) - i.e. when a bank creates your mortgage, all it is doing is buying a security from you, and changing a figure in your bank account to show your new debt. I.e. it has no money, no money changes hands. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC0G7pY4wRE Govt runs a surplus - which really means pushing a) and c) offshore c) Govt spends more than it gets back in taxes And the clever bit is c). Because a govt has it's own bank (BoE), it can create money. And unlike private banks (BOMD) - it is created free of debt. Prof Werner speaks of bringing in 'guidance of bank credit' rules. So that we have the right amount of money created for investing in productive activities and can moderate that created for speculation / property. Also PositiveMoney.org has a lot of info and a rapidly growing base of activists.

Ruffles, yes I have been to many pre-start up meetings with loads of people bouncing of the walls about how wonderful their product concept is. Then they think they are doing us techies a favour by allowing us to implement (oh yes and do the fixed price estimate). The Channel 4 Fresh Meat sitcom had a lovely scene in which JP "invented" a new idea for a smart phone / shaver. He then toddled off to the resident geek and gave him £100 to build it. Classic line "what are you doing in the bar, go home and get to work, I own you ". Ho ho ! Apart from that, yes selling the product is key. I totally agree with the approach of developing with a pilot customer, then rolling out. Also, most startups do some WFH (Work for Hire) to keep cash-flow ticking over while they develop their product. I have coded lots of things on lots of platforms. The work keeps trickling in even here down on the South Coast. Could be worse, could be involved in renewable energy

http://www.pearsonsauctions.com/results-from-auctions-in-hampshire A much lower percentage sold than previous auctions....

One I have read (and it is a LOOONG read: Ayn Rand "Atlas Shrugged". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged "The book explores a dogmatic dystopian United States where many of society's most productive citizens refuse to be exploited by increasing taxation and government regulations and go on strike." Ayn was even rumoured to have had an affair with Alan Greenspan. This book was said to have inspired a lot of the silicon valley entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs. One I haven't read yet: The New Few by Ferdinand Mount http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-New-Few-British-Oligarchy/dp/1847378005 One that I have read and it explains a lot about why mainstream economists get it very wrong: "New Paradigm in Macroeconomics: Solving the Riddle of Japanese Macroeconomic Performance" by Prof Richard Werner." More of a textbook "Modern mainstream economics is attracting an increasing number of critics of its high degree of abstraction and lack of relevance to economic reality. Economists are calling for a better reflection of the reality of imperfect information, the role of banks and credit markets, ......"

Reading the Sunday Times today, I see some definite trends of finance bypassing banks. Lots of crowd funding like Funding Circle, Seedr and loads more. Encouraging people fed up with no interest to invest small amounts in startups. Also in the ST is the Fast Track 100, where a load of new businesses seem to be consuming mountains of investor cash. E.g. AlertMe who have burned £23m since 2005. So, is QE creating a bubble in early stage financing? And if yes will I be able to stitch together a pitch and jump on the gravy train? At least until IRs get back to normal in er....

+1 Does this mean that the banks are finally starting to ramp up repo's?

And Stacey ended with "... looking at the plight of these guys, it makes me think I should find out a bit more about economics and politics and get a bit more involved or we could end up like it in the UK". Admitedly, she came to fame in that reality prog "Blood Sweat and Tears" or something, looking into the human cost of our consumer society. Next week ... Japan, last week, Greece.

Koala I love it. Also, my 14 yr old daughter and friends love Stacey Dooley and her Coming Here Soon progs. She is appealing to the next generation, and pointing out the stupidity of the housing boom. There is certainly hope.

Conversation in the sailing club last night ... pensions are not returning anything, so BTL is still the only way to save for the future. Followed by lots of examples of acquantances with 3 or so BTLs. Then a Yank chipped in about a college mate who doesn't have to work any more with his 4 BTLs. I just kept quiet. Its like a religion amongst the 20 somethings, they do not have the time or inclination to understand the system.

Posen in the opening speech addresses exactly housing bubbles and how they can be stopped and more importantly why the need to be stopped. About 30 mins in to his speech. It is just so refreshing to see a bunch of people who are actually pretty well connected talking about all the things we have been discussing here on HPC for 5 years or so. OK, check out the original videos on the JustBanking.org.uk website here. No distractions there... just plain speaking economics. Here's the list of speakers: Adam Posen Member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee Keynote speech at the Just Banking opening plenary, Friday 19th April Panel Discussion With Adam Posen, Prof Richard Werner, Ann Pettifor, and Tony Greenham Chaired by Merryn Somerset Webb Josh Ryan Collins Senior Researcher at the New Economics Foundation and co-author of “Where does money come from?” An overview of the banking system, and its influence on growth and financial instability Ben Dyson Founder of Positive Money What does the current banking system mean for debt, inequality, jobs, businesses, taxes and housing? Mary Mellor Emeritus Professor at Northumbria University and author of “The Future of Money: from financial crisis to pubic resource” What does the current banking system mean for sustainability? Dr Katherine Trebeck Research and Policy Advisor, Oxfam What does the current banking system mean for the poorest, both in the UK and abroad: a look at financial exclusion and commodity price speculation. Huw Davies Head of Personal Banking at Triodos How we can mobilise savers, overcome lethargy, and put funds to constructive use in an age of budget reductions. Prof Richard Werner Director of the Centre for Banking, Finance and Sustainable Development, University of Southampton, author of “New Paradigm in Macroeconomics” The case for localised banking [This will be updated soon to include the slides] Ann Pettifor Director of Policy Research in Macro Economics, activist and author of “The Coming First World Debt Crisis” Making finance the servant not the master of the people Steve Keen Author of “Debunking Economics” and Professor of Economics & Finance at the University of Western Sydney Why banks cause crises, and how to stop them Q and A Session chaired by Ian Fraser Panel Discussion Where Next? Jim Mather – Former SNP Minister Patrick Harvie – Co-convener of the Scottish Green Party Stephen Boyd – Assistant Secretary to the STUC Kathy Galloway – Head of Christian Aid Scotland & Member of the Church of Scotland’s Commission on the Purposes of Economic Activity Chris Hewett – Fellow of The Finance Innovation Lab and Associate at Green Alliance Shelagh Young (Chair)

Fisman, that is exactly the type of ploy the establishment put in place to keep us from (being arsed to) learn the truth. Entirely understandable

Now, if the politicians haven't got it yet I wonder why not ? Check out this video from Professor Richard Werner .He explains how banks create money and all the very obvious (to us anyway) reasons why modern economics is so flawed. The summary presentations from the JustBanking.or.uk conference in Edinburgh in April are very informative too: Complete with suggested solutions. E.g. put QE to social uses like a Green Investment Bank. Socially useful QE Spread the word - we can get through this to a better system : Meanwhile, some good arguments over on Newsblog about the absurdity of how we treat taxation of land so differently to other forms of finite assets like radio spectrum, taxi licenses, airport landing slots, fisheries etc etc.

I was thinking about this and how unfair it could be. Yes, people with debt vs no debt are in theory treated fairly. It would be very hard to make a debt jubilee that is fair across all circumstances when items other than debt and savings are incorporated, such as fixed incomes (investments/pensions), assets, wages etc

Most interesting to see Japan with the cheapest housing. There is hope for us all, provided the appetite for debt from borrowers keeps low and banks remain zombie like.

Profit comes from the interest charged on the loans (that are money created from thin air). So more loans = more profit for banks. As also described by the economist Steve Keen, see Figure 10 "Perverse Incentives". Profit is the difference between what the banks spend on running their business (salaries, buildings, legal fees etc) and what they charge to customers (fees, interest etc).