Reluctant Heretic

Well .. love-a-duck... I never knew that Barclays were in the doodoo too!! Wasn't Bob Diamond the guy that was trying to buy Lehmans just before they collapsed? It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if they had succeeded.

Very interesting discussion on Today program this morning - about 7.45am. Unfortunately I only caught the tailend. The interviewee was saying that the MPs on these committees are most effective when they just aim to make the 'witness' feel as uncomfortable as possible through a general roasting. Once they attempt to be technical or clever they are easily out-flanked. Good point I thought.

Didn't you find that smug Bob Diamond irritating in his committee appearance today over bank bonuses? "MP's gave him a roasting ... but he left looking as if he felt he had got off lightly." that's how the commentary went (more or less). Even though there were stern faces and withering comments the committee (IMO) commanded all the gravitas of a WI teaparty. Admittedly Barclays didn't need rescuing but you could see that he knew that in reality he had the whip hand. It is refreshing to hear another voice, especially one in the PM's ear, calling for splitting up the banks. In this particular instance with such an enemy I approve of his expression too, none of that 'making clear our strong disapproval' claptrap they've all been spouting past few days. DC "If you pay yourself a bonus I'll scweam and sweam until I make myself sick!" BD (smiling with amusement) "scawy!"

Hi Dan - I posted on that thread too in your support. Added a liitle anecdote.

Yes - I heard this last time it was broadcast too (see below). I thought it was brilliant. Steph Flanders was reading/performing it today, wasn't she, I always enjoy listening to her - straight talking.

I hate to pile on the doom and gloom but I agree. It feels as if we have been living in the part of the Titanic where the cruiser has struck an iceberg (because the captain was drunk or something) and everyone (but a canny few) have carried on partying as before believing that the worst was over.

More like £100k - and what's with the 'deadline' business? Who sets this deadline that they are all busting a gut to meet? Ah - they do! I always fume at Melinda Messenger begging freebees off local businesses in 'Cowboy Builders' - they could at least give them a decent good clear free ad in return. The other thing that is irritating about these shows is the way they skim over the technical details on the important stuff like sorting out damp and structural issues and the greater focus on colour schemes and swish bathroom fittings. Ah well - it did look good when it was finished.

Oh Tim - don't be so grumpy - sometimes you are a little uptight even by my standards ( ) These threads are great fun - I'm going for a perky -3.0% (It's the cold weather)

A prayer of blessing from me on all those here hoping to get a truly affordable home in 2011.

Welcome to my life - I sometimes wish I could take a red pill and go back to oblivion (if I was ever there). There are occasional compensations though - from time to time you will meet someone who will marvel at your wisdom and people will seek you out for advice.

This is the crucial point - we should ban all speculation and monopolies on things without which life is impossible. There's an agenda for the socialists or lib dems (as they appear to be without one too).

I've never understood the Tory line that if you destroy the public sector the private sector will spontaneously grow to fill its place.

Yes - you fooled the kettle into thinking you weren't watching! Glad you've perked up - I hate those depressive days when even the stalwarts lose faith.

Absolutely - most of the students I have met and known had no real interest in what they were studying they had just been cooerced into taking a degree by the education system. All the teachers I know who did PGCEs (I don't know anyone doing a 3 year education degree) said that they learned nothing about teaching from the course. I believe it has only just become government policy to teach teachers to teach because it was discovered (acknowledged) that these skills are rarely acquired through education training (BEds/PGCEs etc). Sorry - don't have sources but this was in the press a few months ago (failure of teaching courses to teach teaching skills)

For ages I have been saying on this forum that I could not understand why students/young people weren't rioting - I saw the anger demonstrated last week as completely inkeeping with the degree of injustice being meted out. I don't think that those who don't go to university should subsidise those who do, its just that the whole situation has been precipitated by greed and incompetence. The innocent are being punished and the Fred Goodwins of this world get handsomely rewarded.

Good point - I am sick of hearing politicians speak nonsense and keep repeating it in an effort to brainwash us. Oh for a leader and/or a party who just spoke plain commonsense instead of endless party-line propaganda.

I am baffled as to why politicians think that it is so important for young people to go to university. Unless they are going to learn things there that are directly relevant to their intended careers (such as medicine for doctors, or law for solicitors) then I don't see the point. If universities stuck to just vocationally-based degrees then funding wouldn't be an issue because it wouldn't be 50% going but the 5% who really need to. Another idea, it seems to me that people develop more intellectually as they experience life so sociology, philosophy, literature, art etc. are very good studies to do as an adult. In these cases the system should make it easy for people to combine work with study so that the two compliment each other and the student has a varied experience. (Applies in case of sociology and perhaps languages but not in others - not essential just one potential benefit). Pressurising the majority of the population into accumulating debts and read books they have no real interest in is crazy IMO and a pitiful waste of resources.

Agree - I really meant the factors that influence interest rates. I went to a meeting once where an researcher for the MPC was collecting data to feed back to the committee to help with the big decision - it was very sexually charged - but that's another story.

Yes Eric and LIAR LOANS (I used to think you were mad but now I think you were right all along).

Watching paint dry is enough to suck the life out of the heartiest soul and that is exactly what watching the UK housing market is like right now. The downward curve is there but its very flat at the moment and dull. I love HPC but people are right (IMO) to stop watching house prices for a bit, at least on a national scale, and turn their attention to the broader issues such as money supply, inflation, peak oil, interest rates etc.

I'm guessing -2.1% MoM to complete the seesaw pattern. (I love it when there is a vertical row of red on the 'House Price Statisics' box!)

The rich/poor divide is caused by disparity of education - yeah right! He had no idea in 2007 that we/they were heading for a financial crisis - yeah right! He obviously is not a great fan of medicare reforms either. He only appears to care about unemployment in so much as it reflects on his own success or failure. Not a nice man IMO.

I like this Chinese proverb but I think that this is a cut-down version - the full version which goes on for some time is much better although the basic components are the same: "One day, an old farmer discovered that his horse had run away. "Terrible!" his neighbors said sympathetically. "How do you know?" asked the farmer. The next morning the farmer's horse returned with two wild horses. "Wonderful!" the neighbors said. "How do you know?" asked the farmer. The next morning the farmer's son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown off, and broke his leg. "Terrible!" his neighbors said. "How do you know?" asked the farmer. The next morning, soldiers came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. "Wonderful!" said the neighbors. "How do you know?" asked the farmer. " If I think someone is behaving badly the parable of the weeds from the Bible is a great source of comfort - it ends : "... and they (the evil ones) will be thrown into the furnace of fire, where they will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Mat 13:42)

Well, he certainly seems to have got everyone's attention - but it should have been focused at one particular bank and his particular issue with that bank should have been spelt out as someone suggested. Identify the culprits and the crimes and make sure they are marked men. Maybe next time?

Actually part 6 - but it was worth watching the whole lot. A good warning about the dangers of being sucked into popular culture and being blind to the real threats we are facing.