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DustinThyme

Listed below are comments made by DustinThyme between Wednesday, 4th March 2009 and Tuesday, 14th July 2009.

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118800 and a web revolution 7:18pm on 14 Jul 2009 I am, by BT omission, ex directory for my landline but I still get crap marketing calls in spite of signing up for the Telephone Preference Service. The last thing I want on my mobile is the same thing and I might be charged for it. As far as I am concerned my mobile is for me to contact the people I want to where ever I am in the world, or my nearest and dearest to find me. (Grumpy Old Man Aged 65)
David Bain's Brain Strain 4:28pm on 08 Jun 2009 Putting aside some powerful cultural and religious objections to both the eating of children and pigs, cannibalism carries the risk of prion induced brain disease similar to CJD.
Going to the country 3:58pm on 21 May 2009 I'm trying to understand what the future might hold for us all in terms of interest rates, consumer and retail prices, inflation, deflation or stagflation and the potential of UK business to create wealth; and lets not forget tax revenue.

Although the UK credit rating has not (yet) been downgraded the effect of the negative outlook must be to reduce the enthusiam of potential investors. If this is to an extent that creates a shortfall in the (or any) government's recovery plan, printing money would seem to be the obvious solution.

Will this affect the pound in our pockets, probably. Some inflation, as we are seeing at the moment, is likely. The RPI measure has hidden the 'true' rate of inflation as it has been buffered by the reduction of interest rates. This will not continue as further falls in rates, if any, will probably not be reflected in the actual repayments on mortgages made by the UK population.

So we will see some real inflation. Net revenue to the exchequer will fall with rising unemployment causing loss of PAYE receipts and increased payment of benefits, putting more pressure on disposable income in the form of increased taxation. I can't really see that deflation, which I understand to be a fall in the RPI or CPI indicies, as a strong possibility.

I can however see a rise in interest rates as credit is still relatively tight.

So my view for what it is worth is that we will see inflation and interest rates increase. That might be a good thing if it is not too severe. Government debt will increase. UK manufacturing will be decimated by the loss of skills and finance but global companies in some areas, and I wish I knew what they will be, might do very well. As always the markets will be difficult to predict.

What does anybody else think ?
David Bain's Brain Strain 3:14pm on 12 May 2009 Sorry my previous link does seem to work - try this

http://www.gomog.com/articles/no1judgement.html
David Bain's Brain Strain 3:09pm on 12 May 2009 You might like to take a look at this

It concerns the 1990 court case to confirm the authenticity of a rebuilt famous vintage Bentley racing car which was a bit like the broom with 6 new handles and 3 new heads.

Warning, it's a long article. In the end the judge decided it was the real thing.
Weekly Bonus Question 1:01pm on 08 May 2009 Whose death might cause problems for football fans in Cromer in 2012 ?
Weekly Bonus Question 11:45am on 01 May 2009 The pellet with the poison is in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle is the brew that is true, what's in the palace ?
Age of austerity 2:16pm on 23 Apr 2009 What happens if the budget doesn't work. That is the predicted growth does not happen, and our debt is not bought, or at least not enough of it. RPI might well be zero or less on official figures but for much of the older population real inflation is already here as their patterns of spending do not include some of the elements used to calculate RPI. My own feeling is that inflation or a real reduction in the value of the pound in your pocket is inevitable, especially given that the actions of the BoE/Treasury/Debt Management office have been to encourage inflation to avoid the spectre of deflation, and there will be a lag between the timing of these actions and their effect. If I had the nerve (and ability) to do it, it might be a good idea to borrow as much as I could now, buy shares in alternative energy sources and pay off the debt in 10 years time with a couple of weeks income.
Caption competition 1:37pm on 09 Apr 2009 Well you might think motorbikes make more sense but they don't have stabilizers like this.
Paper Monitor 2:09pm on 04 Mar 2009 Don't you just have to be careful - sorry I'll get my coat and hive off.

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