Has The Pound Just Had Its Ratner Moment?

[The Masked Tulip]

Worth a read.

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/charles-bean-bank-of-england-savers-sterling-03904.aspx

[twatmangle]

Worth a read.

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/charles-bean-bank-of-england-savers-sterling-03904.aspx

The FX markets and the yellow stuff have certainly noticed.

LIVE FEED:

AT THE TIME OF POSTING:

[1929crash]

Worth a read.

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/charles-bean-bank-of-england-savers-sterling-03904.aspx

Interesting article, but there's no way private sector debt is going to make up for the cuts in public expenditure. Mr Bean should be talking to wee Georgie and treeman Danny.

[The Masked Tulip]

I think the comments by Charlie Bean to be truly staggering and am amazed, but not surprised, that his comments have gone by almost unnoticed.

The man is basically saying that savers are going to be screwed to keep the housing and credit and consumer bubbles going.

Criminal IMPO.

[Mugwump Boy]

Criminal IMPO.

+1 TMT

am amazed, but not surprised, that his comments have gone by almost unnoticed.

If you look at the story on the main news websites, there's lots of anger in the comments. 2010 is already the year that the sheeple woke up.

Personally, I thought AEP's frank admission of his own failure to recognise the danger of QE in the Telegraph the other day was quite a stunning moment.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail are screaming about savers being shafter as per Bean's comments. People are beginning to realise that they're being screwed over and - concomitantly - that the deficit is terrifyingly big...

Edited September 28, 2010 by Mugwump Boy

[1929crash]

I think the comments by Charlie Bean to be truly staggering and am amazed, but not surprised, that his comments have gone by almost unnoticed.

The man is basically saying that savers are going to be screwed to keep the housing and credit and consumer bubbles going.

Criminal IMPO.

Well, where you have an economy where money is based on debt created by the banks, you have to keep spending or else there will be a total collapse.

If unemployment shoots up a few million more, nobody will have any capacity to save.

[azogar]

10 PRINT "RACE TO THE BOTTOM"

20 GOTO10

or simply,

10 PRINT

20 GOTO10

[LJAR]

What amazes me is how long it has taken people to realise that it is govt policy to tax people via inflation.

You don't have to vote about that.

[neil324]

10 PRINT "RACE TO THE BOTTOM"

20 GOTO10

or simply,

10 PRINT

20 GOTO10

lol, love it, all retro....

[Maihem]

I've spent all but 20 quid of my savings... I bought bank debts, repayable on demand. Which my bank will even repay up to £300 a day from cashpoints if I change my mind and want to buy something else instead.

[South Lorne]

What amazes me is how long it has taken people to realise that it is govt policy to tax people via inflation.

You don't have to vote about that.

..+ low interest rates on savings ...less then inflation is the bonus/bumper tax to encourage people to spend....

Edited September 28, 2010 by South Lorne

[Injin]

I've spent all but 20 quid of my savings... I bought bank debts, repayable on demand. Which my bank will even repay up to £300 a day from cashpoints if I change my mind and want to buy something else instead.

You are member of the general public No. 15 to vaguely understand how banks work. Congratualtions!!!

[bajista]

Mr Bean needs to realise the people he is dealing with. A bit of a lesson in the trendy behavioural economics, (or a quick review of Japan for the last 2 decades) would do him and his ilk some good before they start making stupid policies.

Essentially those who had a tendancy to spend, have no money left and no debt capacity left ( i.e their income is already committed - and in many cases more than committed -to their existing debts). This is why QE has failed - the banks can't lend money to these people because they already can't pay it back.

The savers (*), on the other hand, have a lifetime of matching their expenditure to their income. If their income is cut then they cut their expenditure. Nothing Mr Bean, or indeed any other comedy character, says is going to change that.

I cite my uncle, my father, a number of my friends and myself as typical examples. No mortgages or other debt, but cutting their cloth to fit the new economic environment.

I, for example, reduced my non-housing costs by 1/3 last year in line with my reduced interest income. I saved on food, clothing, services, holidays and car running expenses. Easy. No way am I going to eat into what I see as pension capital ( even the bits not in a proper pension). Tough luck, Has-Bean.

Yes, I appreciate the impact of inflation but that just means I will need even more savings!!

Much better to have increased interest rates. The spenders would have been in the same state as now. The ones like me would have had excess income to spend in the precious economy. Doh!

(*) And therein lies their problem . Definition. These people aren't savers they are just people who like to manage what they have carefully. They will happily become spenders if they feel wealthier.

[JimDiGritz]

['Bart']

Sorry chaps but you've got it all wrong, Mr. Bean thinks that saving is a jolly good idea really.

However, during the interview with Channel 4 News, Mr Bean went on to make clear that he does think that saving is a good idea overall. He said there is ‘a lot to be said for encouraging people’ to save, such as putting aside money for a deposit for a home.

So there you are, there are good savers (those wishing to help prop up the sagging housing market) and bad savers (who have this quaint idea that they can do what they want with their money).

I'm glad we've cleared that up.

[exiges]

As we've pointed out before, if it's money you can't afford to lose (like for a deposit on a house) or need access to in the short-term, then while it's tempting, you shouldn't stick it into shares – not even the big blue-chips we like – because that's taking a risk with your capital. And the same goes for another of our favourites, gold.

[wish I could afford one]

Worth a read.

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/charles-bean-bank-of-england-savers-sterling-03904.aspx

That article reinforces why I have nearly 20% of my net worth in index linked savings certificates (ILSC's), a little over 5% in gold, around 2% in index linked gilts and 36% in overseas equities. In fact I've just had some ILSC's mature for a CAGR of 4.5%. A 40% tax payer would have to be earning 7.5% to match that. Full details here http://retirementinvestingtoday.blogspot.com/2010/09/bank-of-england-really-does-want-to.html Sorry Mr Bean I won't be spending and will do everything in my power to cut back even further so that I can reach financial independence as quickly as possible.

[douggggy]

10 PRINT "RACE TO THE BOTTOM"

20 GOTO10

or simply,

10 PRINT

20 GOTO10

or if Merv gets round to buying a graphics eprom for his mx-80

10 LPRINT "£"

20 GOTO 10

[Tiger Woods?]

10 PRINT "RACE TO THE BOTTOM"

20 GOTO10

or simply,

10 PRINT

20 GOTO10

Iirc, on a Commodore 64

0 PRINT

1 GOTO

will run even faster.