ralphmalph

No good printing because it was not a lack of sterling that was the problem. The problem was that other countries were reluctant to take payment in sterling to pay for their goods, i,e oil. Our products were so bad that people in export markets were not prepared to pay for them even in coloured stones. The IMF loan was in dollars so we could buy imports until the economy was sorted out. It is a myth that Maggie destroyed British manufacturing. As soon as the Labour govt called in the IMF the process of reducing British manufacturing was in motion (it was a condition of the loan), Maggie just continued the process that had been started.

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/10/138867588/corporate-taxes-how-low-can-you-go The 12.5% corp tax is a smoke screen the real issue is the "double irish" tax law that the last Irish govt bought into being. All these american multinational companies do not pay any corp tax in Ireland irrespective of the corp rate of tax. They move the money sharpish to the Caymens using the "double Irish" law to pay no Irish corp tax. So US multi national routes cash from Germany, France, UK so we do not get any corp tax (thanks paddy how much of the 7bill we bailed you out with would you have needed without the double Irish), even Ireland does not get any corp tax (and they need it). What a stupid f'ed up Europe we live in.

http://www.rbs.com/global/legal-information.ashx The above is the link for RBS legal info. Section 16 Regulatory info. Royal Bank of Scotland is registered in Scotland. Why is that then. I am sure a lawyer could tell us that it is also subject to Scottish law as well. But I am not a lawyer so I do not know.

So tell us the truth? 1) Do you really care about Trichet? 2) Are you paid too spam this site?

Some Portuguese wag hacked the Moodys website.

With profit margins like this you would have thought investment would be flooding in.

If they build some decent houses expect them to be ocuppied by employees of the local council all paying bugger all in rent.

That is because BMW is located in an advanced economy and can find the skilled design staff in Germany (home location). Whereas MG a Chinese company can not so they design and market in the UK, maufacture the parts in China and then assemble in the UK. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10317764 Same when Mercedes wanted to enter formula one did they do it in Germany no. First they bought a UK engine designer and Manufacturer Ilmoor, then they bought a complete formula one team with marketing, manufacuturing, Brawn. In this case Mercedes could not find the skilled staff in their home territory.

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/speeches/2011/presentation110627.pdf Seems to be that because we do not have wage bargaining from Unions the 70's will not be repeated because wage increases tied to productivity increases not price rises.

So other businesses are getting wise to the antics of private equity i.e burn the creditors and start again with a clean sheet. Fantastic news.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/UK-Retail-Woes-Grow-As-Department-Store-Chain-TJ-Hughes-To-Go-Into-Administration-Today/Article/201106416020119?lpos=Business_First_UK_News_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_16020119_UK_Retail_Woes_Grow_As_Department_Store_Chain_TJ_Hughes_To_Go_Into_Administration_Today_ Something fishy going on with TJ Hughes, they were only bought by private equity in March 2011. So it will be a pre-pack or an asset strip. Gotta love these bankers, no interest in sustainable businesses just a quick buck.

It is very subjective to say the Japanese make the best motorbikes. Your view and you are entitled to it. The Americans for there roads prefer Harleys. The Italians all seem to like Piaggios for around town.

I was wrong the consortium that Rolls was part of was IAE not CFM.

Rolls used to be part of a consortium that supplied the old A320 series, that consortium was CFM (IIRC) have they pulled out for the new engines?

I may be stupid but why are these airlines buying all these planes when oil is going to run out before half of them are delivered? Surely the smart Airline CEO is investing in nuke powered cruise liners.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12272153 Yep Believe it, German companies have been bribing all over the world. I have worked in the UK, Italy, Singapore, HK, Australia, Canada and Germany as a resident. The only place I was ever asked for a brown paper envelope to secure a deal was Germany.

I have often wondered why we do not utilise hydro more. Not dams but we have plenty of rivers that flow 24/7 and we could build a series of hydro plants on the river banks so fish and boats can still use the river, another benefit is that a lot of our large towns are on rivers so you could feed the elecy straight into the cities with little transmission distance. Seems much more sensible than onshore windfarms that are no where near industry or urban centres.

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2011/06/22/602831/the-lights-go-out-at-philips/ FT says Philips is just a Dutch Nokia, being out innovated by its main competitors, which are taking sales off Philips.

China.

Correct, that article in the FT you linked to said that if you take out the debt interest payments Greece is running a deficit if .9% (sounds very low to me but they do have a shed load of debt) but the maths do add up. Greece has 340 bill of debt and at 5% rates that is 17 bill interest a year and the deficit is 20 billion so that leaves 3 bill per year for borrowing more money than they raise. So what Papaman should do is get the 12 billion in cash, then say we are not going to pay any interest to anybody anymore or pay out when bonds mature and he can survive for 4 years on the cash.

So Herr Shumacher is to be the new head of the ECB.

Greece will not default before Trichet leaves the ECB. The honour of France would not stand for the default by a eurozone country with a French man as the Head of the ECB. So he leaves end of sept by which time LaGarde will be running the IMF and the new bloke at the ECB is an Italian, a race well known to be dodgy with money. When he has had enough time to kop the blame, Merkel and Trichet will force default on Greece, blame the Italian, fire him and get a German in as head of the ECB. Job done. As somebody said in the thread up post, all events are planned.

What is interesting is that Cameron listened and immediately got the Govt to undercut the bankers and offer decent terms. Fair play to him. Brown or Blair would have launched a multi year consultation which would have concluded nothing but let bankers make loads of money.

Cameron will take on the Teachers. Free Schools are non union shops and academy schools do not have to be union shops and they can also choose between full union rights and restricted union rights i.e opting out of collective pay bargaining. So you will have a situation where all the state maintaing schools close for the day most academies stay open and teach kids. The the Goverment says well send you kids to academies or free schools in the future if you want them to be educated because the teachers there care about the kids. Massive public support for the Govt, applications to state schools fall massively, Academies and Free Schools maaively over subscribed, Union shoots of both feet in one go.

They have been doing it Greek Style and they are surprised there is no internal growth.