Author Archive
Posted by seumasach on October 12, 2008
Cailean Bochanan
12th October, 2008
The reason all the deception and hype about the government’s midweek intitiative is now becoming clear: it wasn’t just about fooling the British public but was aimed at a wider audience. Brown wished this bailout plan to be the model which the wider world will follow as collapsing markets lead,he will be hoping, to panic and loss of judgement. The government has just announced they will be taking major stakes in the main banks, which is odd because that was meant to be what last Wednesday’s announcement was about. Are the falling markets simply forcing the government’s hand? -after all,the banks and the government were keen to avoid a government stake but now there is even talk of full nationalisation. Or is this just further deception providing cover for those who may wish to impose similar plans on other economies?
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: financial collapse, stop the bailout | 1 Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 11, 2008
M K Bhadrakumar
Asia Times
11th October, 2008
On Sunday, en route to Astana, Kazakhstan, after a “very nice trip to India”, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters accompanying her, “I just wish I could have stayed longer in India”. New Delhi must be one of a handful of capitals where officials from the George W Bush administration receive an expectant welcome, and the doomsday warnings emitted from New York and Washington do not seem to matter.
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Posted in Multipolar world | Tagged: Russian diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 11, 2008
Cailean Bochanan
11th October, 2008
The confusion that reigns concerning the nature of the British government’s intervention last Wednesday has reached staggering proportions. The study of Alisdair Darling’s statement leaves no doubt that there is a vast gulf between the proposal’s themselves and the way in which they have been presented. Last Sunday David Cameron had invoked the Swedish intervention in 1992 and set the ball rolling for the partial nationalisation thesis. This was very obliging coming from the so-called opposition and set in train an awesome “perception management” operation from the masters of these black arts ever since Walsingham’s Elizabethan police state had the bright idea of using the players, the stage itself, as a vehicle for official ideology. “For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” and if people can be made to think that giving away £500 bullion plus to private interests is part nationalisation then all the better. This propaganda onslaught saw many seemingly unlikely figures chiming in at suitable moments to confirm the story-line, and doing so all the more effectively under the guise of attacking it.
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Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: bailout, stop the bailout | 3 Comments »
Posted by seumasach on October 10, 2008
City gang pulls off £500 billion heist.
Cailean Bochanan
10th October, 2008
After Wednesday’s dramatic events I dreamt that that was the headline in the Sun newspaper. But it was a dream; just that.
I awoke to the nightmare: The Sun, of course, had joined the rest in the great chorus of approval for Champagne Gordon, toast of the city. And an impressive chorus it was, including some onetime mavericks and black sheep who had returned to the fold just in time and were now singing with even greater gusto than more longstanding stalwarts such as the chairman of the Bank of England or the leader of the Tory party. There, was former scourge of anglo-saxon finance, Will Hutton; there, George Galloway purring with admiration now former colleague Alisdair Darling has finally decided to deliver (or, rather, stand and deliver) even if it was “too little, too late.” There too were the brand new party leaders, like Nick Clegg with his freshly-tamed financial spokesman, Vince Cable. All were there of the great and the good and they were singing off the same hymn sheet that great puritan hymn, “To be a Pilgrim”. These were the words, which in a transport of bitterness I imagined them to intone to that august melody. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: bailout, financial collapse, stop the bailout | 2 Comments »
Posted by seumasach on October 9, 2008
Daily Times
9th October, 2008
NASHVILLE: The US presidential candidates assailed Russia on Tuesday, with Democrat Barack Obama saying Moscow had engaged in “evil” behaviour and Republican John McCain saying it was “maybe” an evil empire.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Election 2008, McCain, New Cold War, Obama | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 8, 2008
`Iceland is turning into the little Cuba of the north, said Ragnar Hannes Gudmundsson, 38, who has worked at Kaupthing Bank hf, Iceland’s largest lender. “The Soviet Union supported Cuba decades ago and now they are saving us.
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) — For Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the financial crisis that is costing his government $200 billion may also provide an unexpected opportunity to expand his country’s influence.
Rejected by its Western allies, Iceland yesterday said it was in talks to borrow 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) from Russia to shore up its financial system. It would be the first time Russia has extended financial assistance to a NATO country.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: bankrupt iceland, financial collapse, Russia bailout Iceland | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 8, 2008
Here is a nice little summary of the government’s bailout. I have made a small correction. Does anyone think that this looks like a partial nationalisation of the banks? Let us know your views!
Telegraph
6th October, 2008
The Treasury has today unveiled a multi-billion pound package in an effort to restore confidence in the banking system. Here are the key points.
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Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: bailout of bankrupt britain, financial collapse | 1 Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 8, 2008
One has to admire the control systems of the British elite. In the USA last week it appears that the threat of martial law was necessary to bring Congress into line. Nothing so crude over here: they already have their spokesman strategically placed right across the political spectrum ready to chime in with their support or to provide “verification” to the key lies such as that this is a partial nationalisation. The left and far-left have done more than their share in their usual treacherous fashion. Here, leftist icon, George Galloway, does his bit. In amongst all the vacuous leftist verbiage, the essential message for the government is positive though perhaps, “too little, too late”. The left continue to make great play of the sophistic notion that government hand-outs to bankers constitute a break from neo-liberalism.
A statement by George Galloway
socialist unity
“In the midst of this financial crisis which threatens us all, at last the government is taking action which may begin to shore up the banking system. I hope that it is not, as many in the City are saying, “too little, too late”. At almost every step the government has delayed: it’s taken some time to for the Prime minister and Chancellor to detach themselves from the outdated dogmas of free market economics. The Tories managed the appearance of doing so quicker, testimony to their cynicism and opportunism. If anyone suspects sincerity in the Tories mock outrage at the City spivs, then look at the party’s hedge-fund backers and its MPs’ directorships.
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Posted in Financial crisis | Tagged: bailout, financial collapse, treacherous leftists | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 8, 2008
The text below is the full text of the governments latest rescue scheme. This has been presented via the media and and right across the political spectrum as some kind of nationalisation or partial nationalisation of the banks. Here are the references to the governments role in this arrangement and the conditions attached:
“the Government is establishing a facility, which will make available Tier 1 capital in appropriate form (expected to be preference shares or PIBS) to ‘eligible institutions'”
“If the Government is to provide the capital, the issue will carry terms and conditions that appropriately reflect the financial commitment being made by the taxpayer. In reaching agreement on capital investment the Government will need to take into account dividend policies and executive compensation practices and will require a full commitment to support lending to small businesses and home buyers.”
“The current expectation is that the guarantee would be issued out of a specifically designated Government-backed English incorporated company.”
“In order to facilitate this process the Government is making available £25bn to be drawn on by these institutions if desired to assist in this process as preference share capital or PIBS and is also willing to assist in the raising of ordinary equity if requested to do so.”
“It is being made available immediately to the eight institutions named above in recognition of their commitment to strengthen their aggregate capital position.”
In summary, there are “expectations” that the government will take shares in the banks “if desired”. Apart from that £200 bullion plus is to be made available subject to vague commitments. The banker’s word is his bond: the government bond is the banker’s This statement makes absolutely clear the subordination of His Majesty’s Government to the banking cartel. Britain is now a fully-fledged kleptocracy which claims entitlement to all available wealth in the country. The process of the fleecing of the population through inflation, taxation and assorted acts of fraud has now been set in motion, in earnest.
Cailean Bochanan
8th October, 2008
Guardian After consultation with the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority, the Government announces that it is bringing forward specific and comprehensive measures to ensure the stability of the financial system and to protect ordinary savers, depositors, businesses and borrowers. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Financial crisis, Uncategorized | Tagged: bailout of bankrupt britain | 1 Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 8, 2008
Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Natsuko Waki
Forbes
LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) – The Icelandic crown fell against the euro on Tuesday after comments from Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde failed to reassure investors.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: bankrupt iceland, euro, financial collapse | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on October 8, 2008
Reuters
STOCKHOLM/REYKJAVIK, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Iceland’s central bank said on Tuesday it would peg the island’s crown to a basket of currencies at a level of 131 per euro effective immediately, confirming earlier reports.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: bankrupt iceland, euro | Leave a Comment »
