Withnail

in an environment where energy prices (oil, gas and electricity), and hence, all other prices, are rising rapidly, you can't reduce interest rates. the reason for this is that if there is a big enough disparity between commodity price increases and interest rates then money is pulled out of banks and invested in tangible assets such as gold or cans of petrol, causing the economy to fail. anyone who claims to think interest rates are going down with 17% increases in gas prices and $60 oil is either stupid or a liar.

How can they go down with the current huge increases in energy costs? You can't reduce interest rates in the face of strong inflationary pressure unless you want to risk a run on the banks. that's my limited understanding anyway.

They can't cut rates. There's massive inflationary pressure in the economy due to oil and gas price increases which will impact all other prices including food. No way there'll be a rate cut.

Are you insane? The 'economy' in this country is collapsing!

In Newcastle the 'man in the street' mainly thinks about football and Abbi Titmuss (spelling?). This does not leave room for very much else. It's not a case of 'promoting doom and gloom'. All economies have to be based on some kind of production, whether industrial, agricultural, or 'services' of whatever kind. Newcastle does not appear to have a viable economy since it produces nothing tangible and provides no unique 'value-added' services. It's main function in recent years has been to provide cheap rents and labour for the call-centre 'industry' but this work is rapidly drying up as these jobs are off-shored. The supply of residential and commercial premises here is increasing rapidly even as the city's population is falling and employment prospects dwindle. There would therefore appear to be little justification for the current property price bubble. As I think Alan Greenspan once said, 'things that can't go on forever, don't'.

What are the commercial developers thinking? Who on Earth do they think is going to rent these offices? Why do they keep building more and more of them right next to previously constructed empty buildings? Nothing seems to make any sense any more.

In the Long Benton/Four Lane Ends area there are now literally acres of brand new empty office buildings. In an era when so many jobs are being outsourced to India it would seem unlikely that many of them will find tenants.

Anyone who can think that the word 'melodramatic' is spelled 'mellow dramatic' is retarded. Who's with me?

it's 'melodramatic' not 'mellow dramatic' you imbecile.

The way of life we have now is going to be destroyed. Within our lifetimes we will see people starving to death on the streets, dying from diseases like cholera and typhoid as sewage systems break down, and freezing to death as gas and electricity supplies become scarce or prohibitively expensive. Enjoy.