Faced with the prospect of a global collapse in the banking system, the Chancellor took the decision to bail out the banks by dumping Britain’s gold, forcing the price down and allowing the banks to buy back gold at a profit, thus meeting their borrowing obligations. via Revealed: why Gordon Brown sold Britain’s gold at a knock-down price – Telegraph Blogs. My review of Gold Wars is here. I would not be at all surprised if the thrust of the […]
Tags: Bailout, Banks, Gold, Gordon Brown, Money
As I prepared an article on how banks generate illusory profits and artificial levels of capital by gaming the rules, I rediscovered this limerick in Gordon Kerr’s related paper, The Law of Opposites: There was a young man from Darjeeling Who got on a bus marked “To Ealing” The sign on the door Said “Don’t spit on the Floor” So he lay back and spat on the ceiling Here’s a great metaphor from the book, which explains how the rules […]
Tags: Accounting, Banks, Financial Crisis, IFRS, Profit
Better Business Finance (BBF) gives help and support to businesses looking to raise finance. This initiative is supported by The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) as well as Barclays, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds and Santander. The BBF was created to put into practice the 17 recommendations of the Business Finance Taskforce that intends to add further momentum to existing initiatives to improve banks’ relationships with business, to ensure better access to finance and to promote understanding of the needs of businesses. The […]
Tags: Banks, Better Business Finance, Growth, Jobs, Lending, SMEs
Via Market crash ‘could hit within weeks’, warn bankers – Telegraph: “The problem is a shortage of liquidity – that is what is causing the problems with the banks. It feels exactly as it felt in 2008,” said one senior London-based bank executive. “I think we are heading for a market shock in September or October that will match anything we have ever seen before,” said a senior credit banker at a major European bank. A quick look at Kaleidic Economics’ […]
Tags: Banks, economics, Money Supply
Via FT.com – Why our masters insist on breaking the rules by Jamie Whyte, a brilliant article on the rule of law and how contemporary politicians are ignoring it: Unlike the kings of yore, modern politicians cannot toss you in prison on a whim. But they can still impose debts on you. And, as with the kings of yore, their arbitrary powers are rarely used to benefit the little guy. In recent years, American, British and other European politicians have transferred […]
Tags: Bailout, Banks, Parliament, Rule of Law
It was briefly fashionable to admit that interest rates were too low for too long, leading to a boom built on expansionist monetary policy. Unfortunately (related link my own): Economic theory has demonstrated in an irrefutable way that a prosperity created by an expansionist monetary and credit policy is illusory and must end in a slump, an economic crisis. It has happened again and again in the past, and it will happen in the future, too. If one wants to […]
Tags: Banks, Credit, economics, Finance, Inflation, Market Intervention, Mises
The Telegraph picks up my Bill on bank accounting: David Davis, the former Tory front bencher, and Steve Baker, the MP for Wycombe, have called for RBS to prove that its accounts are not being distorted by the controversial International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The letter, seen by The Daily Telegraph, details a disagreement between the MPs and RBS at a private meeting on May 24. The MPs argued that IFRS, which has been described as a “fatally flawed” system, […]
Tags: Accounting, Banks, Financial Services (Regulation of Deposits and Lending) Bill, Legislation
The battle between banks and nation states is shaping up as something that lies between a phony war and a rout. The bald facts are that three years after the crisis in which banking almost brought down the global economy, the biggest banks are bigger, more global and more entrenched in their positions, courtesy of a now all but explicit government guarantee. The author, James Saft, goes on to predict that the next banking crisis will be larger than the […]
Tags: Banks, Cobden Centre, Corporatism, economics
Steve Baker is the Conservative MP for Wycombe.
Steve was first elected to Parliament in 2010. He was previously an RAF engineer officer then a consulting software engineer. Find out more...
Steve holds regular surgeries in High Wycombe. If you would like an appointment, please contact me.
