Gordon Brown - On The Credit/property Bubble

[Tired of Waiting]

Gordon Brown - On The Credit/property Bubble.

Still, "it was all the bankers fault".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/07/gordon-brown-economics

But he also lists lots of things he was not aware whilst we was a Chancellor.

I'm starting to enjoy this "historical document". He is trying to excuse himself, but in the process he is actually revealing himself.

( Edit: Mods please consider not merging this thread with others on Brown, as this one is specifically on "House prices and the economy". Cheers. )

.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Tired of Waiting

[OnlyMe]

Gordon Brown book extract: Chronic greed for power, satiated via unchecked recklessness.

Edited December 7, 2010 by OnlyMe

[interestrateripoff]

"We are only just beginning to understand the risks we have been taking." That single sentence, coming in a moment of frankness from a senior banker who normally personified confidence to the point of arrogance, summed up for me what had gone wrong.

This could apply to Brown's willingness to embrace PFI, dodgy accounting etc...

[LuckyOne]

He still misses an essential point.

He chose to bail out the banks at a huge cost to the taxpayer rather than allowing for an orderly liquidation of the weak.

Blaming the banks for his decision to bail them out is nonsensical.

[Tired of Waiting]

We can now detail in the most precise terms the cost of excessive remuneration at the expense of adequate capitalisation. We now know that, if British bankers had paid themselves 10% less per year between 2000 and 2007, they would have had more capital, some £50bn more, to help them to withstand the crisis. The extent of the undercapitalisation of our banks was £50bn, and was exactly the sum put up by the taxpayers for the emergency stabilisation of our banking system.

Yes, I agree with that. But at the same time I wonder how much better we would be now as a country if also the public sector "had paid themselves 10% less per year between 2000 and 2007".

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Edited December 7, 2010 by Tired of Waiting

[LuckyOne]

Yes, I agree with that. But at the same time I wonder how much better we would be now as a country if also the public sector "had paid themselves 10% less per year between 2000 and 2007".

.

It is not often that I disagree with you.

What he really should have said and done is something along the lines of the following :

We can now detail in the most precise terms the cost of excessive remuneration at the expense of adequate capitalisation. We now know that, if British bankers had paid themselves 10% less per year between 2000 and 2007, they would have had more capital, some £50bn more, to help them to withstand the crisis. The extent of the undercapitalisation of our banks was £50bn, and was exactly the cost borne by shareholders and bondholders in the restructuring of our banking system.

[Venger]

When I look again at the story of HBOS it is not only the scale of what they assumed was their one-way bet on property that shocks me; it is also the sheer aggression and presumption of the bank.

All from the man who so often told us over 10 years, no more boom and bust.

[billybong]

Submerged beneath the surface was an unseen, unregulated shadow banking network that grew in volume to become more than half the entire system, and operated far outside normal rules and procedures.

And we're actually being asked to believe all that

[Ruffneck]

He should have put more regulations on the banks instead of removing the regulations.

this man should never be forgotten for how badly he ran the country into the ground.

[Caius]

He should have put more regulations on the banks instead of removing the regulations.

this man should never be forgotten for how badly he ran the country into the ground.

Anybody know if that speech he made to the bankers about lite regulation is on video somewhere? Can't find it on youtube.

Edit:

Edited December 7, 2010 by Caius

[Blod]

Surely Gordon has been good for his word, he's managed to end boom and bust. We'll never ever have a boom as he's locked in bust. :angry:

[eric pebble]

Gordon Moron Broon could have STOPPED

PREDATORY LIAR LOANS;

They were THE rocket fuel that inflated the MASSIVE property bubble......

He COULD have stopped them in their tracks.

Instead - he totally ignored the warnings - and - he knighted James Crosby, head of HBOS - and one of the main peddlers of toxic & fraudulent PREDATORY LIAR LOANS.

See below.

[Fudge]

Gordon Moron Broon could have STOPPED

PREDATORY LIAR LOANS;

They were THE rocket fuel that inflated the MASSIVE property bubble......

He COULD have stopped them in their tracks.

Instead - he totally ignored the warnings - and - he knighted James Crosby, head of HBOS - and one of the main peddlers of toxic & fraudulent PREDATORY LIAR LOANS.

See below.

A neoliberal state only intervenes in the market when in fails. It doesnt have the power to intervene in markets to prevent failure.

There was nothing Brown could have done even if he had wanted to.

[Si1]

A neoliberal state only intervenes in the market when in fails. It doesnt have the power to intervene in markets to prevent failure.

There was nothing Brown could have done even if he had wanted to.

perhaps he could have stopped attending cocktail parties with said bankers, and avoided rubber stamping their actions, by, for example, givign the senior execs knighthoods in 2005, and opening the new Lehmans European HQ in London in the same year, with a speech lauding 'the risk takers'

you're right that that the overwhelming lesson to be drawn is greater supervision of the financial sector, and Brown is not entirely to blame for the problems we had, it is hard for me as a conservative to admit that the ultimate extension of Thatcherite liberalism went too far, however he did come across as a dodgy referee at Old trafford awarding Man U a penalty in the 93rd minute when the game's at 2-2.

[Spoony]

I thought gordon was still in his padded cell repeating to himself hire he saved the banks and the world. No more boom and bust etc.... He is still a deluded lier. Lying to himself and everyone else. Labour destroyed the uk, yet they take no responsiblity. alan johnson needs a gag. More lies from him.

[Tired of Waiting]

It is not often that I disagree with you.

What he really should have said and done is something along the lines of the following :

We can now detail in the most precise terms the cost of excessive remuneration at the expense of adequate capitalisation. We now know that, if British bankers had paid themselves 10% less per year between 2000 and 2007, they would have had more capital, some £50bn more, to help them to withstand the crisis. The extent of the undercapitalisation of our banks was £50bn, and was exactly the cost borne by shareholders and bondholders in the restructuring of our banking system.

I had understood that. What I meant is that Chancellor Brown made a similar mistake with the public finances, spending too much during the good years. Not only in salaries by the way, but also on contracts, and waste in general, for lack of reforms - by road block Brown. I just mentioned remuneration 'cause Brown had mentioned that aspect on he banks' side.

[Tired of Waiting]

And we're actually being asked to believe all that

I believe him. You overestimate him.

[Tired of Waiting]

He should have put more regulations on the banks instead of removing the regulations.

this man should never be forgotten for how badly he ran the country into the ground.

With this book he is now running himself into the ground. <pleasure>

It is all on paper now!

Oh life is sweeeeet!

[Tired of Waiting]

Gordon Moron Broon could have STOPPED

PREDATORY LIAR LOANS;

They were THE rocket fuel that inflated the MASSIVE property bubble......

He COULD have stopped them in their tracks.

Instead - he totally ignored the warnings - and - he knighted James Crosby, head of HBOS - and one of the main peddlers of toxic & fraudulent PREDATORY LIAR LOANS.

See below.

+ 1

Liar loans + interest rates kept too low = credit bubble.

[Tired of Waiting]

A neoliberal state only intervenes in the market when in fails. It doesnt have the power to intervene in markets to prevent failure.

There was nothing Brown could have done even if he had wanted to.

Quite the opposite, Brown went out of his way to remove housing costs from the inflation index in Dec 2003 (RPI v CPI), to prevent the BoE from raising interest rates in 2004 - a pre-electoral year... and for his, Brown's election.

And Brown new "tripartite" regulatory structure (splitting the BoE and the FSA) failed completely too. Please see this:

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=155580&view=findpost&p=2809431

A bit more here: http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=155538&st=60

[ralphmalph]

THis new book is so highly anticipated that on the day of publication it is at number 636 in the Amazon sales list.

Seems that the UK public have decided that he is now writing rubbish as opposed to just talking it.

[Tired of Waiting]

THis new book is so highly anticipated that on the day of publication it is at number 636 in the Amazon sales list.

Seems that the UK public have decided that he is now writing rubbish as opposed to just talking it.

BTW, I'm a bit distressed here, on one hand I am really very tempted to buy it, to have here a documented proof of this imbecile, lunatic, b@stard "thinking" (he doesn't realise it yet, but this book is actually a confession!), but on the other hand I don't want to appear to reward him with a 1 unit increase in sales numbers, nor with my money. (Are the proceeds going to charity?)

[Reck B]

in case anyone missed this a couple of weeks ago, here are the 'tags' the public have added to Gordon's book on Amazon;

worst prime minister ever(104)

deluded(99)

sold gold at rockbottom price(92)

pissed the economy up the wall(89)

one eyed scottish idiot(75)

profligate spendthrift who ruined britai...(68)

sulking(65)

beware flying nokias(60)

printing money(60)

mc mental(46) utter failure(33)

delusional(31)

a rise of 0 percent(22)

abolished boom and bust(22)

it started in america - honest(20)

snotgobbler(19)

failure(16)

worst chancellor ever(14)

married to a beard(12)

prime mentalist(12) saved the world(8)

a fool and our money are soon parted(7)

obama loves me(7)

head case(6)

saviour of the free world(6)

total failure(6)

bigot(5)

ruined the economy(5)

rocking horse(4)

a kgb agent(3)

autistic(3)

broke britain(3)

charisma bypass(3)

famous sociopaths(3)

mr has bean(3)

obama beach(3)

promoted by jack jones(3)

ashamed to be a scot now(2)

ayatollah hogmanay(2) bankrupt(2)

briiliant leader - saved the economy fro...(2)

destroyed labour(2)

funded by kgb(2)

gordon brown(2)

i agree with nick(2)

illuminati puppet(2)

mental illness(2)

new meaning to boom and bust(2)

parnoid personality disorder(2) psycho nut job(2)

sad scotch hoon(2)

sarah macauley is visiting a friend in c...(2)

tax and spend communist(2)

why are we paying him to write this rubb...(2)

a fool our money are soon parted(1)

a fool our money is soon parted(1)

beyond the crash suicides(1)

bilderberg tool(1)

blame sue(1)

c t(1)

clueless(1)

curse of jonah(1)

despair all browns fault(1)

evil(1)

failed politician(1)

******* mong(1)

freemasonry(1)

global idiot(1) how i broke the golden rule(1)

i love fizzy orange(1)

is brown bonkers(1)

joey deacons jockanese lovechild(1)

liar(1)

loon(1)

loser(1)

lying *****(1)

meditation(1)

new world order(1) nostril miner(1)

saved british economy during global fina...(1)

some kind of bigot(1)

the final front eye(1)

the right thing to do(1)

the uk economy brown s part in its downf...(1)

to obscurity and beyond(1)

traitor(1)

tw t watch(1)

[Democorruptcy]

It's a pity Brown isn't writing this in the tower of London awaiting execution for his part in it because he caused a lot of it.

No more boom and bust, housing out of CPI, his useless FSA being incapable of regulation, whistleblower Paul Moore sacked from HBoS but then the person he accused of excessive risk taking Sir James Crosby, put as 2nd in command at the FSA.

We now know that, if British bankers had paid themselves 10% less per year between 2000 and 2007, they would have had more capital, some £50bn more, to help them to withstand the crisis. The extent of the undercapitalisation of our banks was £50bn, and was exactly the sum put up by the taxpayers for the emergency stabilisation of our banking system.

The same salary excesses apply in the public sector which now means our NHS, schools, council services are all sub standard because the money wasn't spent on front line services. Things can only get worse because their pension entitlements have risen with their salaries. 30% of council tax is already spent on pensions!

[eric pebble]

Quite the opposite, Brown went out of his way to remove housing costs from the inflation index in Dec 2003 (RPI v CPI), to prevent the BoE from raising interest rates in 2004 - a pre-electoral year... and for his, Brown's election.

And Brown new "tripartite" regulatory structure (splitting the BoE and the FSA) failed completely too. Please see this:

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=155580&view=findpost&p=2809431

A bit more here: http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=155538&st=60

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!! Removing housing costs from the inflation index was COMPLETELY CRIMINAL. :angry: :angry: