Gordon Brown: "i Called For Global Financial Reform Ten Years Ago"

[jammo]

Not RTFA, sorry. But what good is GB admitting to have mal-formed the financial system 10 years ago going to do us now?

[Kazuya]

Not RTFA, sorry. But what good is GB admitting to have mal-formed the financial system 10 years ago going to do us now?

So the ignorant sheeple can pin the tail on the donkey?

[jammo]

So the ignorant sheeple can pin the tail on the donkey?

No, but don't underestimate the sheeple - the average man in the pub certainly knows what's going on. Infact, few people I speak to are taken in by the lies when it comes down to it. Not that it is acceptable to ask the man at the pub.. but whenever the conversation arises, all inevitably capitulate as to the folly. Even if they place the tail on the donkey's stupid looking face. I used to think that the country was ridden with "sheeple", but have discovered that they are few and far between in reality. It seemed an apt simile for those who were sucked into thte HPI mantra during the mania phase of the bubble. But now it comes down to it, many of these are proving to be quite lucid tbh. Strange effect of times changing I guess.

[Hip to be bear]

No, but don't underestimate the sheeple - the average man in the pub certainly knows what's going on. Infact, few people I speak to are taken in by the lies when it comes down to it. Not that it is acceptable to ask the man at the pub.. but whenever the conversation arises, all inevitably capitulate as to the folly. Even if they place the tail on the donkey's stupid looking face. I used to think that the country was ridden with "sheeple", but have discovered that they are few and far between in reality. It seemed an apt simile for those who were sucked into thte HPI mantra during the mania phase of the bubble. But now it comes down to it, many of these are proving to be quite lucid tbh. Strange effect of times changing I guess.

Polls would suggest that 30% of the voting population are likely to vote Labour, and believe all the 'spin, lies and hype' that Gordon and his cronies produce. IF those on here are right about Labour's miserable performance, then that surely is 30% who can be labelled with some accuracy as sheeple.

[jammo]

Polls would suggest that 30% of the voting population are likely to vote Labour, and believe all the 'spin, lies and hype' that Gordon and his cronies produce. IF those on here are right about Labour's miserable performance, then that surely is 30% who can be labelled with some accuracy as sheeple.

I've never looked up the proper definition of sheeple tbh, so I suppose the 30% has to count. Just glad I don't circulate in that 30% socially Perhaps 5%, so.

[Hip to be bear]

I've never looked up the proper definition of sheeple tbh, so I suppose the 30% has to count. Just glad I don't circulate in that 30% socially Perhaps 5%, so.

You are right though that there is a degree of lack of trust about politicians in general, and a cynicism about what they say on many issues, but when even national journos and presenters in our dumbed down media don't know the difference between deficit and debt, it is unsurprising that many out there have little understanding of the big picture.

What frustrates me is the ignorance of many who will just vote the way they always have, without thinking, or questioning or educating themselves.

THe turnout is likely to be about 40%, I guess, so arguably it is only 30% of 40% =12% of the population who are labour sheeple.

[South Lorne]

...hey Gordo ...you brought in plenty of regulation to Financial Services ....regulating mortgages even..!...... the mortgages killed the Banks ...even in the UK....give us another excuse ....your regulation either failed or was not applied ....you just keep failing ...don't you..?.....the best thing for everyone is for you to be re elected and give you the chance to clean up your own mess....cut out the smoke and mirrors and get on with it.....

Edited April 14, 2010 by South Lorne

[crouch]

"We are in a stronger position because......"!!!!!

Where does he get all this from?

[nixy]

Question you''ll not hear at this evenings to55er debate

"Can houses priced beyond the reach of first time buyers be regarded as a success of government?"

[Realistbear]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...?Submitted=true

If Brown claims that he foresaw it ten years ago and also admits he let the banks get away with it, the charge against him moves from gross negligence to recklessness.* In criminal law recklessness can amount to criminal culpability. It is most certainly the gravest degree of negligence.

A few years ago such admission to undermining the stability of the nation would have led to resignation in shame.

A few centuries ago and such behaviour would have led to the Tower.

We need to review our system of accountability and not allow people like Brown to escape the consequences of their actions.

*Foreseeing a probability of harm but going ahead anyway.

Edited April 15, 2010 by Realistbear

[Guest Laborrower]

Question you''ll not hear at this evenings to55er debate

This would be a good thread title...

Will it get merged into the GE thread or deleted though

[South Lorne]

Gordon Brown has admitted he made a mistake in not introducing tougher bank regulation when he was chancellor.

...rubbish .....Gordo did bring in regulation to the bankers / lenders for mortgages ....also set up the FSA to deal with it through further regulation....they all failed ...now he is trying to say he did not regulate and regretted it....what a cover up ..!.....but the media are all thick and stupid and can't remember .....his regulation failed ...as did his policing team the FSA .....the whole lot are incompetent ...and the media need to get their act together to see that he is making fools of them...... ....

[nixy]

This would be a good thread title...

Will it get merged into the GE thread or deleted though

Oh oright...... give it a go hey.

[crash2006]

he said the same thing about the housing market but he still didnt do anything.

[South Lorne]

If Brown claims that he foresaw it ten years ago and also admits he let the banks get away with it, the charge against him moves from gross negligence to recklessness.* In criminal law recklessness can amount to criminal culpability. It is most certainly the gravest degree of negligence.

A few years ago such admission to undermining the stability of the nation would have led to resignation in shame.

A few centuries ago and such behaviour would have led to the Tower.

We need to review our system of accountability and not allow people like Brown to escape the consequences of their actions.

*Foreseeing a probability of harm but going ahead anyway.

....he overhauled the Financial Services industry 10 years ago to his own design which turned out to be useless ...and created the biggest bubble and crash in our history ...he failed .....he will continue to fail...he will always fail....

[Giordano Bruno]

Gordon Brown's Mansion House speech

Yes. Why didn't he tighten UK financial regulations, then, instead of telling the FSA to apply a light touch? :angry:

[Guest Mrs Bradley]

Ah! Gordon Broon. That well-known expert in hindsight, rewriting history...again.

[Tiger Woods?]

F&(£ing criminal journalism...if you can still call it journalism. It really is like 1984.

As for Brown, the guy is beyond delusional. I believe that the new encyclopedic pictorial OED is going to have pictures of him next to the entries for "denial" and "cognitive dissonance."

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/8569367/Labour-spending-Gordon-Brown-and-Ed-Balls-ignored-warnings-and-wasted-billions.html

A confidential document presented to the Cabinet in January 2006 asks: "We've spent all this money, but what have we got for it?"

It warns that the efficiency of the public sector needed to improve rapidly and insisted that "spending growth will slow". The document drafted by civil servants also says that "ineffective spending" must be "closed down".

However, Gordon Brown discarded the advice and embarked on a £90 billion increase in spending when he became prime minister.

The expenditure meant that the economy was left facing a record deficit as the effects of the recession were felt.

A large amount of debt?

Still they don't have to pay it back, so it's alright.

[interestrateripoff]

http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/exclusive-why-the-global-political-class-lies-in-fear-of-the-libor-scandal/

Interesting article on the Liebor (sic).

Following this morning’s Slogpost, this email content from an as yet uncorroborated but well-connected source:

‘During 2008/9 I worked at a major investment bank which was advising the office of the PM [Gordon Brown] with regard to the developing banking crisis. I was told that No.10 had been calling the UK banks and demanding that they manipulate LIBOR down, as his economics department had determined that if it rose too much it would trigger a recession and he was looking at re-election.”

As ever with McCavity, his concerns (if that account is true) were entirely driven by the tumescent dick in his brain. At the time, however, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) denied any of it, stating that the BBA ‘observes rigorous standards in our scrutiny and governance of the Libor mechanism, and works with the industry to ensure their continued full confidence in one of its most accurate and reliable benchmarks.’

I think this wants adding here.

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2167940/Now-Labour-dragged-bank-rate-scandal-leaked-documents-Browns-baroness-proposed-scheme-drive-rates.html

Leaked documents last night brought the interest-rate fixing scandal that has shaken Britain's banks closer to the heart of the last Labour government.

They suggest that Baroness Vadera, a former Cabinet Office minister and one of Labour's chief economic advisers, told officials in 2008 that bringing down the rates which determine how much banks lend to each other would be 'a major contribution to the stability of the banking system and to the health of the economy'.

A paper prepared by the peer with former colleagues at the bank UBS was headed 'Reducing Libor' – the name for the inter-bank lending rate at the centre of the scandal.

The document was circulated among officials and Lady Vadera's ministerial colleagues at the height of the credit crunch in 2008 and concludes: 'Getting Libor down is desirable.'

This mess is getting bigger, we can all but hope it ends in Brown getting arrested.

Although are these leaks coming from the Tories?

[interestrateripoff]

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/thomaspascoe/100018367/revealed-why-gordon-brown-sold-britains-gold-at-a-knock-down-price/

A great deal of Gordon Brown’s economic strategy would strike a sane man as troubling. Not a great deal was mysterious. The orgy of consumption spending, frequent extensions of the cycle over which he would “borrow to invest”, proclamations of the “end of boom and bust”: these are part of the armoury of modern politicians, of all political hues.

One decision stands out as downright bizarre, however: the sale of the majority of Britain’s gold reserves for prices between $256 and $296 an ounce, only to watch it soar so far as $1,615 per ounce today...

“I think that Mr Brown found himself in a terrible position,” he said.

“He was facing a problem that was a world scale problem where a number of financial institutions had become voluntarily short of gold to the extent that it was threatening the stability of the financial system and it was obvious that something had to be done.”

Sledgeheads original post on this.

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10367864/Help-to-Buy-risks-housing-bubble-says-IMF.html

José Viñals, a director in the monetary and capital markets department of the IMF, warned that while Help to Buy was “good from a social viewpoint” the authorities would need to be “vigilant” to the risks it could create for households and lenders.

“One needs to be careful that if there is no supply responses that this may exacerbate the increase of house prices in the UK,” said Mr Viñals.

He added: “I think this needs to be look at [and] may require measures beyond the programme such as alleviating planning constraints or tax incentives to further new housing construction.”

The warning from the IMF echoes those from the Institute of Directors and the Treasury Select Committee amid concern Help to Buy could exacerbate the already sharp rises in property prices and cause a new housing bubble.

The IMF decide to join the warning party.

Although I'm not sure how sustaining high house prices is good from a social viewpoint. It's certainly good from point of view of rescuing the banks.

I know not Brown, but considering the number of IMF warnings listed here I thought I'd add it to this thread as well.

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10459123/Help-to-Buy-must-be-carefully-monitored-warns-OECD.html

UK regulators must stand ready to act if the Government's Help to Buy Scheme shows signs of overheating the housing market, while a rapid increase in prices risks overstretching first time buyers, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned.

While the OECD praised Britain's "policy induced recovery" in the housing market, it said Help to Buy would need to be watched closely. "The recently established Government 'Help to Buy' property programme needs to be carefully monitored, as planned, and swiftly adjusted if it risks triggering sharp increases in house prices," the Paris-based think-tank said on Tuesday.

"Vigorous house price increases could boost wealth and private consumption, but could also undermine affordability and stretch the balance sheet of first time buyers," it added.

The OECD also repeated a call for the Government to build more houses. "It is urgent to continue to relax the barriers to housing supply to prevent overheating in the property markets", it said.

Warnings now for the new idiot in No 11.

[interestrateripoff]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2732645.stm

The Bank of England has surprised City analysts by cutting interest rates by one quarter of a percentage point.

After 14 months on hold, rates have been cut to 3.75%, taking borrowing costs to their lowest level since 1955.

The move surprised City analysts, who had thought that the Bank would maintain rates at 4% to keep a lid on the housing market and general inflation.

House prices last month were 24.9% higher than in January 2002, Halifax, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, said on Wednesday.

But the Bank warned of a gloomier economic outlook.

"Over the next two years, the prospects for demand, both globally and domestically, are somewhat weaker than previously anticipated," a Bank statement said.

While inflation was, at 2.7%, a "little above target", the Bank attributed the rise to temporary factors.

The cut would help keep inflation "on track", Thursday's statement added.

Ah the ever expanding gob stopper....