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costaquenta

Listed below are comments made by costaquenta between Friday, 16th January 2009 and Monday, 30th March 2009.

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Nationwide to rescue Dunfermline 10:37am on 30 Mar 2009 Robert and the BBC 'business' correspondents

Whilst I do accept that the Banking Crisis has been a massive story that has required extensive coverage, I would now request that you turn your attentions to that of the 'real' economy as this recession now begins to bite. Why not have an in depth look at how SME's are coping and maybe make some assumptions about wether or not the Govt approach to tackling the downturn has actually achieved anything?
I am not a business correspondent, all I can tell you is that things are becoming very grim down here on the shop floor of the UK. The Credit Crunch has now filtered through into the real world. Most companies I deal with, including my own, have now closed off their Credit Terms offered. This means no more new Trade Accounts and all customers on stop after 30 days. I am afraid Fear has taken over. Companies, some who have been trading 30 years+ are failing, and this squeeze on credit from outside the financial world is just making things worse, as goods and services are witheld meaning orders cannot be fulfilled. It is also impossible for new start-ups to gain credit with suppliers, making it very tough for those brave souls who are 'having a go' in this economic climate. Once again, as so often happens in recessions, Cash is King and any business without substantial cash reserves is going to struggle to make it to the end of this year, despite the resumption of some lending from the financial institutions.

I hope im wrong but it does feel as though we are now at the beginning of the really nasty part of this recession. The Banking Crisis was the appetizer, now for the main course......
Clawing back Sir Fred's pension 08:31am on 04 Mar 2009 It is not the RBS Board of Directors who should have been taking decisions such as this. Correct me if I am wrong, but RBS was/is a technically insolvent Company, so would, under normal circumstances, be in administration and the directors would not be making decisions on pension payouts.

If RBS was only continuing to trade courtesy of a Govt. bail out, then the Govt. should have been much more involved in administering every aspect of the Business, so yet again it is Brown and Co who have ballsed it up.

Also where does a company that is about to post a £20bn loss find £8m to throw into a pension pot?
Daniels sacrifices bonus 3:12pm on 11 Feb 2009 Whilst some Bankers have been greedy is it not time to call off the witch hunt? Are they really any worse than average Joe who believed the value of his house could continue to grow by 10%+ a year to infinity and beyond.

The Bankers bonus fiasco is a symptom of the debt/credit crunch, but it is not a cause. 10 years of unrealistic growth expectations from everyone has brought us here, and now we are all trying to pick up the pieces. People forgot that economic growth is cyclical, paying for things on the 'never-never' and taking out equity loans to buy cars and holidays became the norm. Thankfully those days are gone and hopefully they will not return to quickly (although they probably will eventually).

People keep saying the Bank's should have predicted the crash, but that was not their Job to do, like us the Banks just thought they could keep growing, and the party would go on and on. It was the regulatory bodies and Govt. who should've predicted the problems - but they were too busy enjoying the party too. Shame on them.
Insurance, not nationalisation 10:58am on 22 Jan 2009 'This is what Myners says in the FT: "The capacity for soundly managed banks and markets to support the generation of wealth in the economy could never be matched by the public sector...British banks are best managed and owned commercially".'

How can anyone possibly state that these banks are best managed and owned commercially when it is their mismanagement that has brought us to this point. Although not good for our gobal financial standing, a period of Nationalisation of these institutions would bring some stability to our real economy, which is in freefall. Nationalisation would remove some uncertainty and hopefully boost consumer confidence, which is the key to recovery.
Faith in banks 1:32pm on 20 Jan 2009 #139 Spin Doctor

A tax revolt may be the only option left open to the good people of this country in a few months time, if GB and co do not do the decent thing and call an election very soon.

Remember it was the fact that many people refused to pay the poll tax (not the riots as many like to reminisce) that got Thatcher turfed out.
Faith in banks 11:32am on 20 Jan 2009 Its time to jump ship.

Two tickets to Reykjavik please.
Rescuing the economy, not banks 11:07am on 19 Jan 2009 So let me get this right the Taxpayer is now going to insure the banks against any bad debts they incur during this recession.

So the Govt. wants the banks to resume lending to all and sundry as they did until 2007, however this time their risk will be guaranteed by the tax payer, so we avoid anymore banking collapses.

So the only people who will do well out of this are the Banks themselves and the non-securitised individuals and companies who will obtain loans that will probably become 'toxic'. Are these not the people who started the problem in the first place?

This is getting more and more insane by the day. Can we not organise a coup d'etat?
Lend, lend, lend 10:36am on 19 Jan 2009 As I see it there are plenty of personal mortgages available to people who can provide a 10-15%+ deposit. So what is the problem?

We are still being told the banks are not lending, but what we are really being told is that Banks are not lending to individuals who dont have sufficient security - as they were, to a large extent, in the 5 years prior to 2007. So it seems they are still trying to recreate 2007 lending levels, as AD stated in October, therefore trying to reinflate the bubble.

How can this stimulate the economy? This stimulus can only be done by increasing consumer confidence. Consumer confidence can only be increased by a)improving Job Security and b)increasing personal wealth.

Increasing the levels of debt in our Country cannot have any positive impact on consumer confidence, unless it is combined with targeted tax cuts (at middle income working families and SME's - the two groups that generate the wealth in our economy). Other than the pathetic VAT cut I have seen no evidence of any other tax cuts, only increases. The paradox is we cant afford any tax cuts because our taxes are desperately needed to fund the loans the Govt. says we need to boost the economy.

Resuming lending to failing business or individuals without savings is not in the public interest, it is in The Labour Party's interest.
First Septic Bank (revisited) 4:46pm on 16 Jan 2009 Does anyone remember the good ol'days when taxes paid for Roads, Schools, Hospitals......

........But im sure we will get much better value out of financing bad debt and wars.

All you can do is laugh really.
Taxpayer support for big companies 12:39pm on 16 Jan 2009 Completley off topic, but is anyone else concerned by the fact many of the Supermarkets are looking to expand during this recession (with reference to announcements from Waitrose and Morrison recently, and also Tesco who are building a huge non-food outlet near us).

Im all for job creation, but what will the long term effects be? If these companies are allowed to continue to increase Market share they will have even more domination once the recovery begins. In the future will the majority of us be employed by supermarkets? If thats the case lets hope the minimum wage is drastically increased.

Rather than finding ways to fund ailing business' the Govt should be seriously looking at the competition implications of the above, particularly for non food items.

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