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 […]
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Banks: gaming the rules to generate illusory profits
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 […]
Read MoreBetter Business Finance
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 […]
Read MoreMarket crash ‘could hit within weeks’, warn bankers – Telegraph
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 […]
Read MoreFT.com – Why our masters insist on breaking the rules
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 […]
Read MoreInflation Must End in a Slump – Mises Institute
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 […]
Read MoreRoyal Bank of Scotland told by MPs to explain £25bn accounting ‘distortion’ – Telegraph
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 […]
Read MoreBig winners in crises: The banks
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 […]
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