Brown's spend, spend, spend during his Chancellor's days has brought us into the current economy we are facing today. His appeal at a Downing Street meeting for the lenders to pass on cuts appeared to fall on deaf ears with HBOS, which owns the Halifax, increasing its rate on some mortgages from 6.09 to 6.59 per cent. Borrowers taking out this type of deal will now pay 46 more a month. On a two-year tracker, the rate will increase from 1.49 points above base rate to 1.99 points, giving a current rate of 6.99 per cent.

Other lenders are expected to follow Halifaxs lead.

If the Government wants the banks to lower mortgage rates to home owners - why not just offer them through Northern Rock? Everyone would rush to the Rock to get the loans forcing banks to match the rates or lose the business? Or maybe the government would then run into bigger credit crunch?

I'm inclined to agree that at $1.50 it's probably at a sensible level now, Dilbert. Looking at my monthly cable chart back to 1978 (as far back as it will go), the average price in those 30 years looks to be around $1.68, so realistically it's not too far below that avarage now. It's ranged in that time between $1.04 and $2.45, however, so there is still plenty of scope for an extension of this current move.

As long as it keeps moving why worry :-)

Ain't that what blokes always say? :P

hi fred i thought you was going to say they woujdn,t be able to pee/?//toy boys /

Target exchange rate $1 for 95p by Christmas.

Some quotes from the last few weeks!

OECD says UK is worst placed in G7 to withstand global downturn

The crashing financial sector is much more important to the UK economy than to most others even the US. At least until very recently, the financial sector accounted for 10 per cent of UK GDP, and a quarter of all income tax, and had been growing in importance since the 1980s at the same time as the importance of manufacturing has steadily fallen.

The final piece of the jigsaw is debt. UK household debt is the highest of the G7 economies at 109 per cent of GDP and has also been growing fast in recent decades.



In its major assessment of the global economys health, Deutsche Bank also warned that Britain is even more vulnerable than the US or the euro area.

What odds are the bookies offering on GB winning the next election? Everything he is doing and saying now is geared to an election victory in the next 18 months.

I doubt it, but he's sure shrewd....not that he engineered World Collapse (did he?), rather it has come to boost his position since there is "still" no competent alternative.
It might be an old WWII destroyer, with a duff main gun amd some holes, but it's a lot better than the proposed sailing-ship filled with concrete (alternative) - - - -if my drift is clear . . . . er...?

Do you mean a story colander.

Any economists out there?

At the moment the British government is printing money in order to "stimulate" the economy. OK this will probably lead to devaluation of the pound and inflation in the "short" run.

In one way the "printed money" is ring fenced and applies to the internal country finances. Of course the currency is devalued against other "stable" currencies.

If the IMF lend money to other failing economies, in which currency does it lend?

I know the hope, is that the depth is repaid, but sometimes it is written off.

How does this effect other currencies or is the size of the loan against the total "world economy" so small that it is inconsequential?

Sorry, but I am puzzled?


Another, irritation to me is whether figures are quoted in the media in American or British billions and trillions!

The media sropped using UK billions a long while ago.

You can get 9/4 labour winning the next election, any takers? Conservatives 1/3 not worth the risk, libs 150/1, maybe if the general electorate knew there might be a change in their fortune like strictly...!

wonderful article by Jeremy Clarkson in the Sunday Times regarding "all the things we used to do in the UK before Gordo and his commies took over"

Is Clarkson dead or leaving the country. Perhaps he could be useful and do either.

sounds like a Stalinism???

Well at least 49.5k people had some sense.

HilaryI posted that view a long time back on AM.along with Kylie Minogue as Chief Whip. Two people that only talk sense?.all Mondeos would be compacted!

To the guy that said Ron paul is a crank he predicted all this, it is bush and brown that are the cranks, and you say dont blame the banks, who do you think is running the show now, the politicians or the banks, think about it!

the politicians are just puppets,thats why were still in recession even though our politicians have just giveaway trillions to the banks and allow them to earn interest on it by parking it in the central bank as government bonds! wake up man!

Hyleo1 if your theory is correct than why doesn't it happen then, 1) becuase i bank cannot change libor just by lending cheaply, northern rock would expose itself to a property market timebomb, its not about cheap loans, the banks are full of cash the boe has pumped in, its about an unsustainable housing bubble that cannot be solved by lending more moeny to foolish people, who thinnk the market is a one way bet, just because the government owns the rock doesnt mean it can run the business into the ground and then bail itself out with yet more taxpayers cash!

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/darling-has-secret-plan-to-keep-buggering-about-200811261420/