Financial Crisis

[jcon]

This can't end well IMO. For anyone...

http://globaleconomi...ble-chinas.html

I'm long Chinese action films, those are awesome film sets. You heard it here first.

[12DrinkMore]

This can't end well IMO. For anyone...

http://globaleconomi...ble-chinas.html

The video took two examples from opposite ends of the spectrum. The empty monoliths and the over-occupied dwellings. There is a huge amount in between. Also, presumably in order to make their point, even though 25% of the condo buildings were stated as occupied, we only ever saw empty streets and empty buildings.

Now, I am certainly not well informed over this, there are a lot of questions left open, importantly

- who is funding the development?

- who is in debt?

- who might default on the debt?

- with a 50% up front deposit required, at what point is the property market going to collapse due to defaults?

And then

- if a Chinese bank goes tits up, will it be go under or will the Chinese government bail them out?

- if any foreign lender are involved, will they go under or will the Chinese government bail them out?

I suggest that no foreign banks would ever be bailed out and that the owners/directors of the Chinese banks would have a hard time.

[12DrinkMore]

The luck o' the Irish

http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be

It's about time the IRA rolled up their sleeves and sorted out the real enemy.

If the new government agree to be bound by what Brian Cowen and his team

negotiated I am a monkeys uncle !

I am not a monkeys uncle after all

If Ireland Asserts Sovereignty, Bye-Bye Empire

"If the Irish government does what it says it intends to do, which is its legitimate right, which is to deny their obligations to meet the debt of foreign banking institutions operating on Irish soil, run by the British Empire's Inter-Alpha Group, that means the toppling of the entire damned system," Lyndon LaRouche stated yesterday. "

http://larouchepac.com/node/17805

I sincerely hope that the Paddies take this road.

Somebody, at some point, has to finally call an end to this crazy system where we are paying off debt to the <deleted> banks forever. The Sword of Damocles should once again hang over the heads of those responsible, not golden parachutes, pensions and bonuses handed out freely for failure.

The bankers extorted their way into creating the current system by firstly creating money to pay for wars and then threatening to withdraw that money from the economy. We are now in the position that just 2.6% of the money supply has been issued by the government and 97.6% by the <deleted> banking system. The banks own us, and can create recessions, depressions and bubbles at will.

This is a disaster for the population, as wealth is constantly sucked out from the wealth created by labour and put into the bankers' wallets.

I hope that Ireland will bring this to a head and stick a massive middle finger into the faces of the bankers.

[BlackJack]

maybe its been posted before but have a look

just finished watching "Inside Job" documentary

talk about criminals

[midas]

maybe its been posted before but have a look

just finished watching "Inside Job" documentary

talk about criminals

Yes i saw it too.....I dont see the difference between what they did in terms of criminality compared

to what Bernie Madoff did.

And have you heard about this :-

" Tax reform group Prosper Australia today called on first home buyers to delay buying real estate ahead of the flip into a falling market, which it described as ‘imminent’.

RP Data reports there are over 900 Melbourne auctions scheduled for the weekend and 2700 over the next three weeks. Prosper believes this enough to decisively tip the market into oversupply."

http://www.prosper.org.au/2011/03/15/prosper-calls-for-buyers-strike/

Edited March 25, 2011 by midas

[12DrinkMore]

Here we go again, the politicians are cranking up their expenses again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8405614/Expenses-bill-to-soar-as-MPs-force-watchdog-to-relax-rules.html

I particularly find the

MPs with families will be able to claim up to £2,500 extra for each child under 18 to cover the additional costs of a larger second home to accommodate them

disgusting. Why on earth should tax payers dig deep into their pockets so that the "elected representatives" get paid to bring up brats? And why is this allowance not propagated to everybody?

Not that I consider it correct that the "brat tax" should be imposed on the whole population. There should, IMO, be a "no brat" income supplement available to those who do not increase the problem of an increasing and non-sustainable population.

[Gambles]

The luck o' the Irish

http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be

It's about time the IRA rolled up their sleeves and sorted out the real enemy.

If the new government agree to be bound by what Brian Cowen and his team

negotiated I am a monkeys uncle !

I am not a monkeys uncle after all

If Ireland Asserts Sovereignty, Bye-Bye Empire

"If the Irish government does what it says it intends to do, which is its legitimate right, which is to deny their obligations to meet the debt of foreign banking institutions operating on Irish soil, run by the British Empire's Inter-Alpha Group, that means the toppling of the entire damned system," Lyndon LaRouche stated yesterday. "

http://larouchepac.com/node/17805

I sincerely hope that the Paddies take this road.

Somebody, at some point, has to finally call an end to this crazy system where we are paying off debt to the <deleted> banks forever. The Sword of Damocles should once again hang over the heads of those responsible, not golden parachutes, pensions and bonuses handed out freely for failure.

The bankers extorted their way into creating the current system by firstly creating money to pay for wars and then threatening to withdraw that money from the economy. We are now in the position that just 2.6% of the money supply has been issued by the government and 97.6% by the <deleted> banking system. The banks own us, and can create recessions, depressions and bubbles at will.

This is a disaster for the population, as wealth is constantly sucked out from the wealth created by labour and put into the bankers' wallets.

I hope that Ireland will bring this to a head and stick a massive middle finger into the faces of the bankers.

We had that John Mauldin on the show a couple of weeks back, he said that it wouldn't be crazy for the crazy Irish to tell Jean-Claude Trichet to "kiss off" -

[midas]

We had that John Mauldin on the show a couple of weeks back, he said that it wouldn't be crazy for the crazy Irish to tell Jean-Claude Trichet to "kiss off" -

i hope so ! or even invite them to kiss the Blarney Stone

[AlexLah]

Dear 12, I find this part of your comment interesting.

the problem of an increasing and non-sustainable population.

Could you please elaborate on this, especially the part of non-sustainable population.

:jap:

[Gambles]

We had that John Mauldin on the show a couple of weeks back, he said that it wouldn't be crazy for the crazy Irish to tell Jean-Claude Trichet to "kiss off" -

i hope so ! or even invite them to kiss the Blarney Stone

there's plenty of folk out there who'd like to find the inverse Blarney for me to kiss and for it to have the opposite effect..........

;-)

[12DrinkMore]

Dear 12, I find this part of your comment interesting.

the problem of an increasing and non-sustainable population.

Could you please elaborate on this, especially the part of non-sustainable population.

:jap:

Hmm, actually you have a good point. Checking out this nifty little tool

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_pop_grow&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=world's+population+growth#met=sp_pop_grow&idim=country:THA:GBR:VNM:DEU&tdim=true

it shows the world's population growing at just 1.2% and with growth heading downwards.. This has cheered me up immensely. Maybe population growth is not such an issue as I thought. If the trend continues, then we will hit zero growth and then go minus in just a few years. Yep, seem to have been blindsided by all the stuff about water running out and the Chinese securing vast tracts of land in Africa to feed all the mouths.

Wiki has some more on this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population

I suppose that the world's population will always be sustainable at some level and will tend towards the equilibrium between consumption and production of resources.

So yes, please ignore my stupid post.

[midas]

Dear 12, I find this part of your comment interesting.

the problem of an increasing and non-sustainable population.

Could you please elaborate on this, especially the part of non-sustainable population.

:jap:

Hmm, actually you have a good point. Checking out this nifty little tool

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_pop_grow&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=world's+population+growth#met=sp_pop_grow&idim=country:THA:GBR:VNM:DEU&tdim=true

it shows the world's population growing at just 1.2% and with growth heading downwards.. This has cheered me up immensely. Maybe population growth is not such an issue as I thought. If the trend continues, then we will hit zero growth and then go minus in just a few years. Yep, seem to have been blindsided by all the stuff about water running out and the Chinese securing vast tracts of land in Africa to feed all the mouths.

Wiki has some more on this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population

I suppose that the world's population will always be sustainable at some level and will tend towards the equilibrium between consumption and production of resources.

So yes, please ignore my stupid post.

I don't think it is so stupid ?

Doesn't it depend on your interpretation of what " sustainable " is ?

I interpreted it as being a reference to no matter how small the growth may be,

perhaps there will never be adequate full employment ( i.e. underemployment ) opportunities ever

again to provide a meaningful lifestyle beyond subsistence for many millions ?

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/28/young-educated-and-underemployed-the-face-of-the-arab-worlds-protesters/

Edited March 25, 2011 by midas

[12DrinkMore]

Hyperinflation coming your way?

Maybe just inflation

http://pragcap.com/hyperinflation-its-more-than-just-a-monetary-phenomenon

[12DrinkMore]

Right, I've just been exercising my remaining cells.

There are two worlds: the manufacturing world where making 1,000 quid profit entails roughly an investment of over 9,000 quid in material, labour costs (say around 10% profit) and risk, and the banking world, where that same 1,000 quid profit has a cost of far less than 10 quid.

And how do I arrive at that figure?

Let's say the bank charges 6% interest on a debt. To make 1,000 quid profit the debt would have to be around 16,000 quid over one year. If this bank has a generous reserve ratio of 5%, then the reserve would be just 800 quid. The maximum the bank has to pay for this is the overnight rate at the BoE of 0.5%, so just FOUR QUID over the year.

(In the UK the reserve requirement is ZERO, it is on a volunteer basis)

Unless I have some massive error here (and please point it out), the basic banking model is that Merv supplies vast amounts of cash for free, which the banks then ramp up and make humongous profits, risk free as the tax payers have to bail out the banks when the asset bubble pops.

[AlexLah]

Dear 12,

Remember one thing.

There is no spoon......

[12DrinkMore]

http://www.guardian....-police-rioters

More than a quarter of a million people have marched through central London to deliver a powerful message about the government's cuts in public spending.

At one stage 13 shops in Oxford Street were closed following skirmishes between activists and riot police. Topshop – owned by Sir Philip Green, who has been accused of tax avoidance – and HSBC had windows smashed, while paint and bottles were thrown at a Royal Bank of Scotland branch.

A small acorn?

[midas]

Dear 12,

Remember one thing.

There is no spoon......

.....because this guy has them all

[12DrinkMore]

And another acorn from Alex's corner of the globe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/mar/27/dutch-bankers-bonuses-axed-by-people-power

ING customers mobilised on Twitter and other social networks to protest at bonuses paid to bosses at the bank, one of the biggest in the country. The threat of direct action raised the spectre of a partial run on ING, terrifying the Dutch establishment. Fred Polhout, union organiser at the bank, says: "People were outraged. We heard about the bloated sums being paid again in the City and in New York; but suddenly the issue exploded on our own front door."

[flying]

This is interesting...........

Temporary Unlimited Coverage for Noninterest-bearing Transaction Accounts

This is the FDIC we are talking about.....offering UNLIMITED Coverage

As Jesse said

Someone brought this to my attention, as I had not heard of it. It is not so much what they are doing, but why now?

With recovery supposedly at hand, and the financial crisis over thanks to Ben and Timmy, I wonder why they would enact unlimited FDIC coverage for what sounds like checking accounts and commercial clearing accounts.

Full Jesse article at link

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2011/03/emergency-unlimited-coverage-extended.html

Edited March 27, 2011 by flying

[AlexLah]

200925092011

[jcon]

And another acorn from Alex's corner of the globe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/mar/27/dutch-bankers-bonuses-axed-by-people-power

ING customers mobilised on Twitter and other social networks to protest at bonuses paid to bosses at the bank, one of the biggest in the country. The threat of direct action raised the spectre of a partial run on ING, terrifying the Dutch establishment. Fred Polhout, union organiser at the bank, says: "People were outraged. We heard about the bloated sums being paid again in the City and in New York; but suddenly the issue exploded on our own front door."

[flying]

Nash Equilibrium Fail: Ireland Wants Senior Bondholder Haircuts

And so the great decade + old eurozone game theory project of Europe is about to come crashing down. Following Europe's decision to leave Ireland out in the cold, due to the country's ongoing unwillingness to pander with unilateral concessions to the global banking syndicate, the Emerald Isle has apparently decided to call the EU's bluff. Reuters reports: "Ireland's government wants to impose losses on some senior bondholders in Irish lenders to reduce the burden on taxpayers from a prolonged banking crisis, a senior minister said on Sunday...Analysts widely expect the government to impose losses on senior bondholders in nationalized lenders Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide because they have sold their deposits and are being wound down. Hitting any unsecured unguaranteed senior bonds in Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks (AIB), which amount to over 11 billion euros, would be more controversial." Yet most controversial would be the fact that the Eurozone is now unable to control its wayward son, which seems set on actually following the will of its people than that of the plutocrats. And just like Tunisia set a precedent to the MENA region with an act many thought was unthinkable, should Ireland follow through with this near-revolutionary act of a debt impairing chain-reaction, most other countries are set to follow suit, leading not only to the inevitable end of the one currency block, expected for so long by many euroskeptics, but yet another US taxpayer funded bailout, as was revealed on Thursday of last week, when we observed the upcoming "threat to the international monetary system" as predicted by the IMF.

Ireland wants bank bondholders to share the pain

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For those interested in the shenanigans of Rothschild, Warburg, Morgan et al, this provides a lot of information.

SECRETS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE

The London Connection

By

Eustace Mullins

http://apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm

[Gumballl]

The cost of shoe laces just went up!

[12DrinkMore]

Riding on a tsunami of debt....

The inappropriately named Office of Budget Responsibility has just put out its latest forecasts.

To save us wading through the whole document they handily put out a revision of the forecast household debt.

http://budgetrespons..._correction.pdf

Over the next five years they confidently forecast a massive increase in household debt of 35%. Jeeze, that'll please the bankers.

And if you want the whole report here it is

http://cdn.budgetres...ok_23032011.pdf

What happens if Joe Public decides that he doesn't want to take out more debt? How does that expression go? Ah yes, "......and the currency of slaves is debt". Yes, indeed.

[12DrinkMore]

I wonder if this sort of debate will come up more frequently or will our elected leaders kick the can down the road a bit further?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-28/your-rights-are-wrong-if-they-cost-too-much-commentary-by-terrence-keeley.html

[12DrinkMore]

I did not think it would come to this.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/greece-may-need-to-break-taboo-on-selling-land-to-slash-its-debt.html

And I hope it doesn't. It would simply be yet another transfer of capital from the poor public to the rich.

When is a brave government going to give the finger to the banks and take back the emission of its own sovereign currency? Maybe the following plan might work?

1. The government announces and then issues its own currency.

2. All foreign debt payments are put on hold

3. All government expenses, capital, staff, benefits, pensions are paid in the new debt free currency

4. All taxes are collected in the new currency

5. Initially the exchange rate would be fixed with only government owned banks allowed to exchange the currency.

Provided a sense of national pride in the new currency could be achieved, then it would quickly gain acceptance. As EUR's are then exchanged to pay taxes, the foreign debts could be paid down, with some sort of haircut.

Could this be done in Ireland?

Yes, I think it is a possibility. The Irish are proud folk, the Irish banks are pretty much all owned by the government anyway. Would the Anglo-US banks hate it? Yes, they would threaten with the usual "we are not going to finance your debt" bullshit. But this would not be an issue, as the government would issue its own debt free money, and be completely in control of the new sovereign banking system.

Coupled with the recent proposal to not be held accountable for the debt incurred by foreign owned banks on Irish soil and I believe this could be a way out of the mess.

The alternative is surely for the Irish to be debt slaves to the Anglo-US banks for eternity.

[jcon]

Just tossing it out there: RMB-denominated securities will soon be listed on the HKEx (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing LTD). As I understand from my bank, I can hold RMB without restriction in whatever settlement account I use. That's a bit of a change from the RMB forwards that we (Naam and I?) have discussed either on this thread or another.

[Naam]

Just tossing it out there: RMB-denominated securities will soon be listed on the HKEx (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing LTD). As I understand from my bank, I can hold RMB without restriction in whatever settlement account I use. That's a bit of a change from the RMB forwards that we (Naam and I?) have discussed either on this thread or another.

yes JCon we discussed non deliverable forwards. but the problem is that (as of today) all offshore CNY denominated securities are illiquid like a granite rock because of their tiny emission volumes. therefore it dose not make to much sense to fill a settlement account (if that is possible without a settlement in sight) with cash if it can't be used.

i am referring of course to bonds which are also available OTC.

[12DrinkMore]

Think this shit is over and here comes the recovery, just around the corner?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8210460/Lloyds-writes-off-half-of-Irish-loans.html

I guess not

Provisions to take account of the worsening in the portfolio will amount to an additional £4.3bn this year and total provisions now cover about 54pc of the entire loan book, effectively meaning Lloyds does not expect to get back at least half of its Irish loans.The huge write-offs have largely been driven by the collapse of the Irish property market and 90pc of the bank's loans against commercial property in Ireland are impaired, meaning that the borrower is either behind on payments or unable to service the debt.

Here comes another bail-out.