fluffy666
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Posts posted by fluffy666
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While it's paid for by theft, no one has any idea whether it is good value or not. I strongly suspect that it's appaling value..because the only way you can have it is by mass theft. Good things people will pay for voluntarily.
Per capita costs are half that of the US mostly private system. Outcomes are better. Hence 'Better Value'. Fully private healthcare systems always run into the problem that on average, a person's health care needs are almost inversely proportional to their income, and needs in healthcare are absolute.
Of course, people will pay for Homeopathy and other woo voluntarily, despite it being repeatedly shown to have no beneficial effect. This kind of torpedos the idea that a totally free market in health care would be efficient.
Taxation is not theft. Of course, there are states around the world with no effective central governments and hence no taxes. You may be surprised, but they are not the libertarian paradises you may imagine. They tend to be hell-holes that anyone who can runs away from. Any idea why?
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DENIAL
There is NO credit crisis
There is NO subprime here in the UK
Banks are NOT tightening lending standards
The UK has NO problems with personal debt
The US recession will NOT affect the UK
The UK will NEVER suffer a recession
The UK is NOT over reliant on financial services in the economy
The UK housing market is NOT a bubble
REPEAT AFTER ME ---> Houseprices will NOT CRASH
Good, good.. now repeat 5,000 times and you can have your pick of jobs from the Guardian's Society suppliment..
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That is an important part of Thatcher's legacy. She believed in a small state and low taxes - so people could decide how to spend their own money. She trusted people to make the right decisions. When she came into power the basic rate of income tax was 33p in the pound and she moved it progressively down.
Hmmm. What happened to VAT? There was a small net reduction in taxes, especially as the north sea oil came online, but there was a big shift from income taxes to consumption taxes - basically shafting the working poor. There was also a house price bubble and collapse (remember??) and the abolition of MIRAS which hit 'hard working families' heaviest, and shifted the field towards BTL.
Look at what we have got now. High employment (allgedly) by creating a million more public sector jobs. A million more salaries to pay, nice offices to provide and, worst of all, a million more gold-plated pensions for the rest of us to fund forever. And, of course, tax revenue has doubled under this government. The sneaky tossers have fooled the people though by not raising the basic rate of tax - but their stealth taxes have doubled taxation.I don't think that taxes as a proportion of GDP have doubled, have they? Unless you are ignoring inflation and economic growth for the sake of a political point..
I'm not particularly impressed with the current government.. but if you are going to pretend that things were great under thatcher you need some serious selective memory.
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The Nation has turned into a Socialists dream.
Can anyone honestly identify the relationship between the taxes they pay and the services they get ?
Yes, we have this thing called the NHS.. which may not be perfect but is far better value than any private system.
But I would strongly disagree that this country has gone socialist - Labour has been far keener to shovel money towards consultants and the already rich to be accused of socialism. Nationalising the railway system properly (Private sector disaster), putting a proper energy policy (Including public works on a large scale) in place after the disaster started by the conservatives, taxing the rich to pay for decent services.. these things could be called socialist. As would building large amounts of high quality public housing.
Likewise, ID cards are very much authoritarian as opposed to socialist (partisan commentators can never tell the difference). Remember that they were on the Conservatives manifesto at the last election - which also means there can be no claim of a popular mandate for them.
A sobering thought for those entering retirement who voted in the Labour Party, you will be living a very miserable old age on meagre handouts irrespective of the huge amount in taxes taken over your lifetime, but dont feel too sad, your children will under labour be getting nothing at all.Unlike that model of genorisity, the conservatives. The fact is that people are living longer and that cannot help but put a strain on retirement funding, no matter who is in power, and no matter how retirement is funded. Even if there is no state provision and everyone was sensible to save the vast amounts required, the resultant sea of savings would push yields down drastically.
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In light of Gordon Bean's observation: "It's all the more remarkable that inflation is low and 2.1%...especially when you have rapidly rising prices" what does anyone think Gordon Bean's "remarkable" CPI figures will be today, given the 16% increase in prices widely reported?
Inflation targetting is so much easier when you decide what inflation is first, then calculate the prices of goods needed to achieve it. Saves on research, too. Everyone wins*
*Apart from Pensioners who freeze to death in the dark. But that saves on pensions, too.
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It was an Austin 1100 Countryman actually. And I should know, I've followed a few.
Not many people followed Austin cars.. it's fairly easy to overtake stationary objects.
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The City and their useless economists have been proved to be way of the mark yet a gain with their IR predictions.
The BoE will be lucky to get away with anymore cuts let alone the move to 4.5% or 4.75% predicted by many.
What are the odds on a rate hike any time this year???
Rate hikes now = Conservative win in 2010. The BoE will say that it is targetting inflation in the medium term, never mind the odd 'blip'.
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yeah there is a possibility of this,but if someone had been writing large tranches of naked calls ie not supported by cash or the underlying asset,then they'd have been shaken out of the tree by now I'd have thought or if not,it'll happen soon.Typically,when you see big up/down days,movements are reinforced by covering.Lately we've seen high volatility and it could well be down to derivatives markets working through.
I would say as well that given the state we're in many will be cutting options exposure and reinforcing capital bases if they can.I would be more worried about monoline insurers,bank solvency and mortgage fraud.I think these are the big issues facing us now.
Oh, that's OK then..
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depending how they've assessed risk with their positions it is highly likely they've written puts and calls and thus if the calls are excercised then the puts won't be.Also,only some of those puts/calls will be excercised depending on what the underlying security does itself.Their actual risk is nowhere near their exposure if they've been sensible.
I'm sort of reassured by all of this.. however- What happens if some of these calls and puts cannot be excercised, because a counterparty has gone belly-up? Is there a chance that this could have a cascade effect - so if enough happened to wipe out the assets, they would themsleves have to start defaulting?
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I don't know whether to laugh or cry at that statement.
UK PLC - it says "AAA" on the label so it must be kosher. No-one would ever understate the credit risk of bonds, would they?
Don't worry.. they'll be paid back. Once the pound has lost 70% of it's value, it'll be fairly easy.
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Right cheapskates.
how much have you HPc squirrels stashed while this life has been going on.?
you can include STR cash, savings, currencies, gold or anything liquid you have your tokens saved in.
also PM me your bank, account details and sort code please.
(only the super rich)
I just lost a category due to boiler death...
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Who borrows to pay their mortgage?
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I know there was all that stuff in the papers about people using credit cards to
pay bills etc... but is it really as wide spread as they made out?
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ST
Credit card companies tend to send you a steady stream of credit card cheques, with exhortations to 'pay yourself some money' by writing a cheque straight to your bank account. I have absolutely no doubt that a LOT of people who are having trouble with the mortgage payments are doing exactly that.
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We have had some stupid lending in this country but at least we didnt get into Neg Amort.
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Did we?
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I would not be surprised to see cases where people have taken out 125% loans and used the extra cash to pay the mortgage, which is basically the same thing. But we didn't have the systematic pushing of these loans that there was in the US - this guy is past retirement age and he's been sold this mortgage..
Had this whole credit bubble blown up in 2005 as it should have, at least this final fling of wretched excess and insanity would have been avoided. Option ARMS were the very last throw of the credit dice - a way of cramming people into mortgages far, far bigger than they could ever afford.
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Hi
I just had some broker call me about making investments in oil. I could listen to all his cr8p (which I took with a Dead Sea-sized pinch of salt), but I chose to pick your brains first.
I respect a lot of what`s said here, so what do you reckon - 2-3 grand in his company or ISA?
Cheers
Ideally I'd like to know the name of the company.. but:
- Where are they exploring/drilling?
- How many discoveries so far?
would be a starting point - I am a trained petroleum geologist, FWIW.. but bear in mind that even with the best technology in well-characterised areas, your chances of hitting commercial oil with a given wildcat are perhaps 20%, dropping off rapidly in unknown areas. There's a *big* roulette factor in oil investments even if the company and prospects are totally pukka.
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It is clear to me that the last two decades have seen standards of education fall to a paltry level. Keep the country dumb enough, and make them believe they deserve the Beckham lifestyle. Force feed the obese, bovine imbeciles with meaningless tat, and you can cream off 16% per annum off the gullible tw@s for the rest of your life. Nice investment.
Perhaps capitalist societies are due for melt-down and revolution in much the same way that the communist eastern block did 20 years ago.
I really don't think that this generation is any less well educated or especially brainwashed.. it's a case of opportunity. Remember that for the whole 1950-1980 period, i.e. the previous in-memory generations, loand and credit cards were hard to obtain, and relatively high wage/price inflation often got people out of trouble. In the 1930s, deflation, and recession made a lot of people destitiute. We are currently living in a fairly unique time - where an experiment on the effects of allowing near-limitless credit to the entire population is drawing towards its conclusion.
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http://www.iva.co.uk/forum/
Just have a quick trawl through this increasingly busy site. Some amazing debt figures (and write offs !!).
Debt is clearly just extra income for lots and lots of people. The recent credit binge has created this weird sub-culture in which people blame everyone but themselves for their problems, finding sympathy and support amongst fellow 'victims' whilst the whole IVA sector is clearly booming !!! (I suppose there are plenty of jobs being created there ...).
Absolute classic:
http://www.iva.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9049
I do not currently have a mortgage. I am considering taking out an IVA to clear my personal debt. My husband and I will possibly be looking to take out a mortgage in this year. Will having an IVA affect my chances of getting a mortgage. (I am not the main wage earner)This does indeed go right through clueless and out into the sunny uplands of la-la land..
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Its like a real bad comedy. Bloke "I went on a 4 year bender on clothes and holidays". Couple started with a £28000 mortgage and went bust owing £140000+.
Then the cheeky buggers have the nuts to sit there and blame the people that lent them the money.
YOU BORROWED IT! YOU SPENT IT, SO YOU PAY IT BACK.
I have no sympathy at all for any of these people. I can only think that they have the mental capacity of a donkey on acid.
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UPDATE : Quote "I have worked for 14 years of hard work to keep our heads above water." (Not including the fact that you MEW'd and spent £110000 on nothing) "Theres my pond it had fish lights and all that. Cost a lot of money"
Glad to know you did not waste it. They even repo'd his fish.
Once upon a time, before getting credit like that, you'd have to go to a bank manager and ask for a loan, and the bank manager might just want to know what you were planning to spend it on.
The thing is, throughout history, people with access to debt have abused it and ended up impoverishing themselves. This is why folk wisdom generally warns against getting into debt, and why many popular reliegons warn against it or prohibit it outright - i.e. the Islamic prohibition in charging interest. You may say they are ignorant or foolish.. but the fact is that these people need protecting. Might sound paternalistic, but the consequences end up being paid by all of us.
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The Government will consult on whether the standard would be self-regulated by lenders or the Financial Services Authority. Alternatively, it could be regulated by a separate independent body.
Ahh.. self regulation. That'll work. Instead of a boozed up 80 year old arthritic shepard protecting the sheep, we'll just get the wolves to promise not to eat them.
We don't need any new ratings agencies. We need to ban loan securitisation - at least for property-secured loans - outright. It's quite obvious that the industry can't price them properly and the potential for fraud is always going to be there. We just don't need it either..
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That's what I meant ... if you just left things you might get bailiffs on your doorstep or even entering your premises and cataloguing/valuing your possessions...
This is why we are glad we changed the locks and added a padlock to the side gate just after moving into our new house. Last owners were somewhat lacadasical in the whole debt-repayment thing - we've had several debt chasing letters and one baliff visit. Have a nasty feeling that the set of keys that 'went missing' during the house purchase may well have ended up in the wrong hands, although to be fair it could just have been the bad luck that caused the instructions for the burglar alarm to go missing as well..
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Well, just out of interest, I have recently moved into a rented house, and the idiot who lived there before me (who moved to buy - this is your first clue) has not managed to get round to redirecting his financial post. I have told him about this and even delivered a load myself to his new address...but it still keeps coming.
1) A LOT of people who seem fine on the surface are in serious, serious, serious SH1T
2) If there are enough of them, they are going to drag the rest of us down with them.
What I find strange is that someone must have given him a mortgage.. why on earth are the banks giving mortgages to people with 5 figure debts (and presumably no savings)?? Surely they actually check on these things..?
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at the peak of MEW 12% of the UKs income came from people withdrawing equity from there homes, its big....
I see it as a classic rebranding excercise.
If it was 'Increasing your mortgage', 'Selling the roof from over your head', or any other more accurate description, people might think twice. But instead it's been pitched as 'Cash tied up in your house' as if it were cash savings that you could withdraw without consequence. And of course, with low interest rates, extended terms and IO mortgages, I suspect a lot of people 'took cash out' and lowered their payments, thinking themselves very smart..
I don't see anything wrong with MEW for essential rennovation, or building an extension - if it increases the value of the house. But to buy a car, take a holiday or (aaarrrk) pay of credit cards so you can run them up again.. no.
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yeah, 40k would be a bargain for an investment (real investment)
but i was thinking what i would pay on a wage related mortgage for a 'starter flat' of my own like this.
and it wasnt 175k.
some IDIOT has bought this for something like that amount.
who ever it is, im glad its THEM and not ME.
Hmmm. These seem to be the developers:
http://www.dwh.co.uk/yournewhomeawardsbestdevelopment3.html
Quote: '170k for a 1 bed flat, 250k for a 2 bed'
These are the agents - Read it and choke!:
http://www.kgp-ltd.co.uk/whyinvest.html
And this is the mouseprice hstory. It's bizzare, because you can see the new build prices (~250k and ~170k for the 2 and 1 bed flats respectively), BUT.. what are those 35, 50, 70k sales doing? Same apartments.. reposession/aution prices?
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Yes me to. I have gone to the effort of making sure our family toothpastes are flouride free (its not easy as there are not many easily available on the market) None of my family have any tooth decay but my wife has discoloured teeth that the dentist does not deny is caused by flouride. She was bought up to brush her teeth about three times a day with flouride toothpaste. Flouride would effect the whole skeleton.
We need a UNION OF THE PEOPLE to stand up to these dictators on many issues. United we stand, divided we fall. The only way to change things IMO
Or we need to take medical decisions based on evidence and not scaremongering?
Even better, we could teach people statistics from an early age. Then they might just understand things like cherry-picking, confirmation bias, regresion to the mean, significance, and a lot of other things that give you a torch to navigate the dark world of health (and other) claims.
On the thread topic.. I find the calls for *less* transparency disturbing - at the very least, shareholders and customers need to know if their bank is in trouble, hiding it will simply make it worse. It's the fact that the same plyers keep having to announce further write downs that worries me, as if this thing keeps cascading and no one knows how to stop it.
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Yes it does give that connotation and it probably is the case but I dont think that all BTl's have no equity and also that they wont have some after a HPC.
Best that he marries her then divorces and gets half the equity as a payout from her before it drops can be done in six month period
You can tell long term BTLers - they are the ones who are quietly sitting on 2-3 properties, rent 2x mortgage payments, shedloads of equity, seeing the property as a source of index-linked retirement income. Not the ones shouting about the 10 city center flats they've been sold with 'gift' deposits on short term IO mortgages (payment 2x rent), bound to be a great investment in the long term (so not to worry about any short term cash flow issues..).
"financial Engineering" Turning Out To Be A Crock Of Sh!t
in House prices and the economy
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Don't implement anything? The world got along just fine before all of this financial engineering went on. All it achieved was the massive mispricing of risk and consequent excessive profits for bankers. The world of banking *should* be transparent, very boring and very conservative (as in suspicious of untried innovations).