Nationalist

It ends in hyperinflation. It always does. The paper money reverts to its paper value.

Whenever an MP says something like "90-year-old Dorothy hasn't had her bin emptied..." the Speaker should insist on proper identification of "Dorothy" so her circumstances can be properly investigated and the Parliamentary record isn't polluted with first-name-only anecdotes that will be meaningless to historians.

A poor boy married into a rich family will be motivated by a desire to prove himself; to show the in-laws that he's got his own worth. Getting PM status gives him that. Lording it around when he has dinner with the wife's fam will be a lot of fun for him now.

Probably a "proportionate" response, since NordStream was obviously an American op. Just the Ruskies saying: look we can get a sub into your waters and cut cables anytime we want.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-63326102 There have been two simultaneous breaks of the undersea cable that provides the data connection between the Shetlands and the British mainland. Phones, internet, ATMs, card purchases - all down. The authorities say: probably fishing vessels. But revenge for NordStream has got to be on the cards. The PM will be notified as soon as we know who it is.

KK hasn't realised yet that some things are not to be announced out loud. They should be buried in the small print. Gordon Brown managed to cancel the 10% tax band without ever mentioning it.

Also, is Killer Bunny still around and what's his handle these days?

Thanks, we'll know this is the big one when Realist Bear turns up.

I'm baaaackk....... I probably count as an old-timer by now. I attended two meet-ups in London in 2004 and 2006 (approx).

Pension funds borrow money to buy gilts. They put 10% down and borrow the rest. The gilts pay above the interest rate the funds pay so it's free money. Yesterday gilt yields rose (i.e. prices fell) and the banks made a margin call, saying: up your cash on the table pension funds. So the funds sold gilts to get the cash. Which made gilts fall further. Perfect storm. Total collapse foreseeable. So the BOE entered the market to buy gilts to push the prices back up. This made the pension funds solvent again and, as a side effect, made yields go down so government borrowing is now cheaper.

Initial impressions..... 1. First budget ever that spends more than £1 trillion. 2. Includes £233 billion borrowing.

Pandemics are good for wages. The Black Death triggered a major rise in peasant lifestyle.

If China tries anything militarily all its assets in the West will be confiscated. These assets are land, buildings, ports, factories and the like. They cannot be moved or concealed. The CCP must know this. China now has too much to lose to try anything. China needs its house of cards to stay up, so all large Chinese companies will be bailed out. Debt any company owes to the Chinese government is very soft. The govt will just let it ride. It's not a problem. The real problem is dollar denominated debt. This amounts to approx US$2.5 trillion. But China holds six trillion of American and other western gilts. It's covered. China can bail out its big corps.

It's the next subplime

I'm WFH solidly now. I think it's time to get a side hustle. (And I'm probably late to this party.) Something that can be done online since there's no supervision. It's the company's choice really - even when they had the office open it was hard to keep people off Facebook etc, now there's no stopping anyone. Only question, what to do? Not actual employment, though, but run a website or the like. Ideas?