Sunday, May 11, 2008
Depressing tales of irresponsible lending
observer: 'I welcome the crunch: it's shut off the easy loans that destroy lives'
"Counsellors say that tighter credit conditions are, at last, arresting the debt spiral that sucks in vulnerable borrowers."
"Antcliffe, who has worked for Citizens Advice since 1994, says: 'The banks have acted as a secondary welfare state. I'm not sure how people are going to adjust to living on their income again."
Posted by mken @ 09:47 AM (657 views) Add Comment
11 Comments
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1. jimmy_joe said...
There's some vey sad stories there. Some of us worry about having to work until 70 to afford a pension so working until after that just to pay off debts which clearly should not have been loaned in the first place is horrific.
'The banks have acted as a secondary welfare state. I'm not sure how people are going to adjust to living on their income again.'
I doubt many will call it 'living'.
2. Sumo_barry said...
I bet this has been going in loads over the last couple of years but the papers have only told us how house prices ever go up. We witnessed these stories coming from the Unites States some 12 months ago when the press were telling us there was no subprime over here. Well there is going to be loads and this is the tip of the ice berg.
3. last_days_of_disco said...
I think the terrible thing about this whole credit cycle has been the way it has warped the psyche of the English.
If you are literally stupid and hence can't see the writing on the wall, you can enjoy a lifestyle you can't afford for
a while. The intelligent hard working people, did not get rewarded on merit and many left.
That is why Britain manufacturing sector has practically collapsed and finance has blown up out of control. Why
slave away building up a factory when all you earn gets sucked up by the state? Also why bother doing
manufacturing at all when bankers who clearly are of inferior quality to you (I am glad the myth of the super human
banker is exploding) are earning up to ten times your salary. Get into banking.
I have noticed how the bankers have been fooled by this the most. The first year they new it was a bit odd they earned
more than people the acknowledged were brighter than them. The second year, the money had begun to pervert their
thinking and now the positively believe in their own superiority. Now I am going to be stuck with a bunch of banking friends
who are out of work and much humbler and much of their gains are tied up in, you guessed it, property.
I am glad its over too. It means, those who survive the financial shock, will again get rewarded on the merit of their work.
This credit thing has been the one of the biggest violations of natural justice.
The next bubble to collapse after housing is the welfare bubble. How is it that North Yorkshire spends more then 1 billion pounds
on their NHS services and you can get IVH and stuff like that on the NHS.
Another bubble ready to pop.
4. I Remember The 90`s said...
This is the sad side of this certain( imo )house price crash.
5. Gettinglikemymother said...
It won't be all that hard for some to adjust. Many have gone mad buying designer/gadgety stuff - not remotely essential except in their 'must have' heads - because they looked on debt as some sort of inalienable human right. There was a particularly barmy mother on one TV debt programme who 'had' to buy about 30 pairs of shoes for her 3 year old - yes, THREE - because 'she's addicted to shoes.'
I ask you. And of course the presenter didn't ask whether she'd therefore 'have' to buy another 30 pairs in 4 months, when her daughter's grown out of them all. The mother was apparently completely unapologetic about her huge debts - just delighted to be on telly, I suppose. The stupidity of some people is right off the scale.
6. Medusa said...
Very sad reading, and it really doesn't look that good for the banks - yes the value of property kept going up, but that didn't mean that people could afford the debts they secured against their properties - did the banks not realise this, or, and far more likely, did they just not care about the effects going under with debt would have on people. Of course people should only take out what they can afford to borrow, but it is a cycle - and there are many people in our society that are extremely vulnerable to this.
7. gone-to-colombia said...
Could it be that what has been happening in Britain has been a form of mass hysteria?
8. Orwell said...
"...'The banks have acted as a secondary welfare state. I'm not sure how people are going to adjust to living on their income again.'
I doubt many will call it 'living'...."
Bye bye slave labour wages, hello inflation (big time, 1970's style) and strikes (1970's style) and unions (1970's style)...!
9. Stupid_boy_pike said...
I congratulate this lady for standing up and telling the truth.
Highlights the irresponsible behaviour of bankers whose integrity has sunk so low you could trip over it, and the misinformation pumped out by the press over recent years.
10. Mytimeisnigh said...
I agree with last days of the disco, the welfare bubble wiil be the next one to pop after the housing bubble. Only today on the news, the government were announcing that cuts were needed in social care. With the economy slowing down (at best) or falling into recession, unsustainable spending will have to be reined in. Additionally the government can't afford
to get into anymore debt. As a public sector worker, I feel very disappointed that the huge spending splurge wasn't better managed, because soon social services will be given the unfortunate task of telling old and disabled people that their needs may well not have changed, but the Authorities access criteria for services has. What happens then?
11. Fed Up said...
Agree with you 100% pike. At least the one good thing coming out of all this is the contempt with which moneylenders are now going to be regarded again.