I’m a Pundit

I was browsing some of my blogging hangouts this morning and found what can only be described as one of the funniest summaries of the economic climate I have seen so far.

The quote comes direct from I am Livid, a fantastic British blog by the disturbingly anomynous, and scarily hairy, Mr Angry.

I have fond memories of the recent men’s 100 metres final in Beijing. Usain Bolt put in a performance that quite literally, made track and field history.

Then I look at the state of the country today, with rising inflation, falling house prices, banks on the verge of collapse, recession looming large on the horizon, and a feeling among many that things are about to take a significant turn for the worse.

Then I look back to just over three years ago to the Live 8 concerts, and I wonder if the Government completely misunderstood the stated aim of Making Poverty History. Because right now, it looks like they could be about to do just that.

written by Oli \\ tags: Depression, Economy, Funny, Government, Humor, Humour, Live 8, Poverty, Recession

For a lot of people the recession brings tidings of woe, house values are dropping like stones, business are going broke and people are suffering from bankruptcies. There is however a silver lining to the recession.

It has been more than acknowledged in passing that house prices in the UK are insanely high. Not even 60 years ago a house could be bought for 3 times annual earnings, hence why mortgages have usually been given at 3 times annual earnings. Today however people earning around £20,000 ($40,000) a year are expected to spends between £200,000 ($400,000) and £500,000 ($1,000,0000) on a home in Britain. How can people afford this?

Well quite simply they can’t, interest rates will keep increasing what is owed to such an extent that nearly a fifth of new mortgage buyers are expected to never pay off the loan themselves, instead leaving the remainder as something for the kids.

For this reason the incoming recession is a good thing, house prices should be brought back into the realm of the reasonable and affordable. Houses that once cost £15,000 shouldnt, half a century later, cost £150,000.

As recession bites strings will need to be tightened, but a lot of things that have grown in price will fall, while the basics become more expensive. It does however need to happen, for too long Britain has stood in the shadow of a false economy, a problem which has haunted it in a million different ways.

written by Oli \\ tags: Depression, Economy, Recession

I can’t help but wonder to myself how Alistair Darling came into power in England, We are talking about a man who seems to have no sense of the fact that the economy rises and falls, that inflation goes up and down 

Infact Mr Darling and Gordon Brown, in true US style have spent so long shooting down the small temporary inflations and minor economic downturns, all while spending the money the Conservatives saved to keep the country afloat, that they have built up to a massive tidal wave that could quite possible be the next economic depression.

I am having trouble coming to terms with the fact that Mr Darling can refuse to talk with public sector union officials after giving them a below inflation pay rise, chiding the workers of the UK for wanting enough money to live on, when one of the major reasons for the recession is labours insane levels of taxation, which rather than fostering businesses and prosperity to bring in revenue have instead focused on taxing more for more money.  If there is any lesson learnt throughout history it’s that the damage this causes to small businesses and the vulnerable is catastrophic.

Already bankruptcies in the UK are at an all time high, this is not down to consumer spending going down, its to do with increased fuel prices, increased business tax rates and a multitude of red tape laws strangling small business.

Mean while our Gordon Brown is busy licking the old American mud rim, while George Bush is sat their wondering if Tony Blair has been at the pies a bit too much recently and had a mild heart attack.

I really wish we had a party in power that wasn’t full of privately schooled, out of touch wankers who have been trained as Politicians and seem to live in a world that is mostly constructed within their own mind.

written by Oli \\ tags: Alistair Darling, Depression, Downturn, Economy, Gordon Brown

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today announced that he could see the end of the US Credit Crunch being in the very near future.  This has raised a lot of skepticism from economists and pundists around the world who ask the question, should someone with such an obtuse view of the US economy really be in charge of it?

Currently the US economy, along with the UK and several other EU countries is under a period of normalization to bring living costs back into line with wages.

Henery Paulson seems blissfully unaware of this fact as he tried to stall the depression recently with a government rebate to his country.  If he thinks a hundred or so dollars is going to stop the increasng number of bankruptcies he really is in trouble.

He mentions the recovery of several lending agencies, however he does not point out that the collapse of these was due to ‘loss of faith’ that saw the Northern Rock Bank Nationalised in the UK in 2007.  The credit agencies will still suffer as people in the countries become poorer and find it increasingly difficult to maintain a lifestyle they hope for without becoming heavily in debt.

written by Oli \\ tags: America, Credit Crunch, Debt, Economy, US, USA