BBC Blog Network

User Profile

FollowTheDucats

Listed below are comments made by FollowTheDucats between Saturday, 20th December 2008 and Tuesday, 30th December 2008.

«Newer
Older»

We are the banks 11:12am on 30 Dec 2008 Re: 556 [DickyJ39]

Thank you. BoE works for the nation then, rather than just for the elite?

-----------------------------------------------

The UK is at some risk, I think:

As trade between countries continues to slow and as nations become more protective and isolationist in their international dealings, where does that leave the country that previously had to import to meet basic needs?

It was all good and well when financial services were riding high, but as this wasn't the real economy the country's economic engine no longer produced the former bounty of material goods. Mrs. Thatcher had seen to that.

There may now be some light manufacturing opportunities opening up in the coming months and years. But, um, start-up financing may be problematical. A pooling of interests may be the only solution, some with a bit of capital and many more with sweat equity. It's not as if Great Britain doesn't have a legacy in manufacturing, but getting going again will take some effort.

It would be a shame if local councils failed to comprehend the international situation and refused new business zoning licenses so as to protect local house values.
We are the banks 8:07pm on 29 Dec 2008 This forum has given me several useful links. In following those, as serendipity would have it, I've come across other material that is entirely relevant to the current economy.

The first is a historical piece on Edward Bernays, nephew to Siegmund Freud, and the "Century of the Self". I knew this kind of thing was going on, and sort of why, but to have it presented so well is enrapturing. There are 4 parts so you will have to either Google for the others, or use the URL root to search the site:

http://video.google.com

The comment software won't let me post the full link, so search the site for Century of the Self, parts 1 through 4. A truly marvellous documentary.

The second is a series of 20+ audios w/graphs and is a wonderful synopsis of the economic forces shaping our world. Knowing from the 4-part video how we got there, it is now frightening to contemplate where we go from here. The rest of this site has useful updates and commentary from readers:

http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse

While Martenson was primarily targeting an American audience his revelations about the lies and deception that mark the press release of financial indicators will have its corollary in the UK.

I have to admit that I had naively thought that the US Federal Reserve Bank was a government agency, or at least quasi-governmental, rather than a banker's guild. Silly me. Can anyone comment on the situation with the Bank of England by comparison?

It would appear that to save our selves, we have to also save the current masters of the universe. That was probably the fallback plan all along.

Happy musings.
Varley: credit to shrink for up to two years 05:36am on 20 Dec 2008 "...until they own up to the sins of the past and say sorry..."

There could be a lot of startling revelations if the banking world were to enumerate "the sins of the past".

Does "sorry" mean never having to say I'll give it back? Forgiveness and reconciliation may only go so far.

I was a late post to Robert's Dec 19 article, so I'll repeat it here because it's a banking thing:

Deja Vu

"Like the financial disintegration hanging over us... [the] ...one of the 1340s was the result of 30-40 years of disastrous financial practices, by which the banks built up huge fictitious "financial bubbles'', parasitizing production and real trade in goods. These speculative cancers destroyed the real wealth they were monopolizing, and caused these banks to be effectively bankrupt long before they finally went under."

650 Years Ago: How Venice Rigged the First, and Worst, Global Financial Crash
by Paul Gallagher
Printed in the American Almanac, September 4, 1995.

http://american_almanac.tripod.com/pbgbardi.htm

Having bumped into the article that this extract came from, I followed links from the webpage to find more about the financial world of the Merchants of Venice. As financial wealth was a tad more tactile in those days than most of our modern day instruments, I was left wondering what happened to the massive quantities of gold and silver bullion that the Venetians had monopolized, hoarded, and traded on spread. Who made off with it?

Anyway, whoever was able to spirit sizeable fortunes away left a legacy for their heirs and successors to parlay into incalculable hard assets over the coming centuries. The financial world became more sophisticated and, until 1974, principally on the gold standard.

Intrigued by the link offered in post #80 to this board, I then wondered where the safe financial havens of the mid-14th century were (maybe caves or deep vaults were all that was on offer). I also wondered why the likes of modern day San Marino, Andorra, Lichtenstein, Monaco and other minnows were never swallowed into the nations that formed around them in later centuries.

I have my suspicions, of course, but I also wonder where our latter day Merchants of Venice have put their wealth to keep it proof from the current financial maelstrom. They surely knew it would come one day.
Made off with all our money 03:59am on 20 Dec 2008 Déja Vu

"Like the financial disintegration hanging over us... [the] ...one of the 1340s was the result of 30-40 years of disastrous financial practices, by which the banks built up huge fictitious ``financial bubbles,'' parasitizing production and real trade in goods. These speculative cancers destroyed the real wealth they were monopolizing, and caused these banks to be effectively bankrupt long before they finally went under."

650 Years Ago:How Venice Rigged the First, and Worst, Global Financial Crash
by Paul Gallagher
Printed in the American Almanac, September 4, 1995.

http://american_almanac.tripod.com/pbgbardi.htm

Having bumped into the article that this extract came from, I followed links from the webpage to find more about the financial world of the Merchants of Venice. As financial wealth was then a tad more tactile than most of our modern day instruments, I was left wondering what happened to the massive quantities of gold and silver bullion that the Venetians had monopolized, hoarded, and traded on spread. Who made off with it?

Anyway, whoever was able to spirit sizeable fortunes away left a legacy for their heirs and successors to parlay into incalculable hard assets over the coming centuries. The financial world became more sophisticated and, until 1974, principally on the gold standard.

Intrigued by the link offered in post #80 to this board, I then wondered where the safe financial havens of the mid-14th century were (maybe caves or deep vaults were all that was on offer). I also wondered why the likes of modern day San Marino, Andorra, Lichtenstein, Monaco and other minnows were never swallowed into the nations that formed around them in later centuries.

I have my suspicians, of course, but I also wonder where our latter day Merchants of Venice have put their wealth to keep it proof from the current financial maelstrom. They surely knew it would come one day.

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

FollowTheDucats