http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html en-gb 30 Fri 08 Jan 2010 06:15:41 GMT+1 A feed of user comments from the page found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=18#comment9 Once again the thin line between sharp, canny business practice and outright criminality has been breached. (The line is so thin now that it can only be seen by an electron microscope.) There's plenty of blame to go round. We ought to bear in mind that the old notion of fiduciary responsibility belongs to all of us: high fliers and High Street investors alike. If the regulators were too reticent to reign in the derivitatives/collateralized debt markets, we should have held Brown's feet to the fire as Chancellor and stopped worshiping at the Temple of Greenspan. Now there's Hell to pay and we've been handed the bill. What a surprise! Will the City bankers end up in the dock? I think not. Two generations hence this debacle, too will be forgotten. Thu 16 Oct 2008 18:47:58 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=16#comment8 A few evenings ago, someone gave one of the TV news show announcers a Zimbabwean one billion dollar bill. He said it was worth 32 cents in real money. By that measure, 55 trillion dollars is worth $17,600. By the time the inflation resulting from the bailouts take full effect, that's all our 55 trillion will be worth too.http://www.aol.com.au/news/story/Zimbabweans-battle-money-shortages-as-collectors-buy-hundred-billion-dollar-notes-on-eBay/756291/index.html Wed 15 Oct 2008 20:08:01 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=14#comment7 BTW, I'm not taking any small denominations. I don't want briefcases full of one, two, five, and ten billion dollar bills. I don't even want my wallet cluttered up with 50 and 100 billion dollar bills either. No denominations less than one trillion dollars accepted. I like to travel "light." Tue 14 Oct 2008 21:17:17 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=12#comment6 "Does anyone have $55 trillion to spare?"Well I might be able to help you out if you've got change for a $100 trillion bill :-) Tue 14 Oct 2008 16:17:11 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=10#comment5 Thanks. I now know what a CDR is.Four years ago a Branch Manager for HSBC told me his Bank was looking for borrowers, not savers. Being thick, I couldn't work out how he could lend out money without depositors. Now I know why I was struggling !!I trawled the High Street to find a safe home for £100000 18 months ago. HSBC gave me 20 minutes but didn't even bother to put its recommendations in writing. Alliance and Leicester also gave me 20 minutes I asked the Advisor to put his advice in writng as it had been rather a lot for me to absorb in such a short time. He wrote it on the back of an envelope as we walked to the door! The female advisor from Nationwide put her advice in writing, sending me full details within3 days.I fully realise no-one cares about money more than its depositor. But do the Banks realise this. How DARE they take such risks!! Haven't much sympathy for individuals saving with icelandic banks. These accounts are online, and the 'net' has been warning about the risks all year. Mon 13 Oct 2008 21:18:34 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=8#comment4 The problem with the conclusion is that unfortunately as long as there are snake oil sellers there will be snake oil buyers.If in years to come the Government decide to sell their Bank shares back to the public do you think the strap line for the sale could be. "If you see Fred, tell him"? Mon 13 Oct 2008 20:06:12 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=6#comment3 All I want is for Gordon Brown to be honest. His Press Conference and later Canary Wharf speeches were equally disgraceful. Brown has been in charge of the money supply for well over 10 years now. If the RBS chairman can cash in so can Brown. The PM should offer his immediate resignation. An election should be called now and a judicial review into banking and bankers... we are sleepwalking into oblivion... to bring the message home we should immediately cull the Olympics, ban all bank advertising/ marketing/ sponsorship reducing it to tombstome ads. Clawing back the banking largesse from the wider financial services sector. Shorting, Put/Call options should be outlawed, classed and regulated as gambling as should Fund managers loaning any financial instruments or shares in their portfolio. All self certification mortgage applications should be vetted again any not 100% honest should not benefit from the bail-out and both the submitting broker and lending house fined 10 times the value of any commission and arrangerment fee paid.It won't happen, politicians leaving office usually end up with one bank group or another but its fun to speculate Mon 13 Oct 2008 12:30:34 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=4#comment2 I don't have 55 trillion to hand at the moment so I have drawn it on my Icelandic account. The cheque's in the post. Mon 13 Oct 2008 09:52:29 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=2#comment1 #1 MarcusAureliusIIAs much as it pains me to agree with your analysis (up to paragraph 3 above) I cannot agree with your solution of 'printing money'.Printing money is carrying on doing what caused the problem in the first place - creating artificial or fake money by the banks. (By the securitising of poor quality loans and pretending that by doing so they mysteriously became good quality securities, and further constructing a huge pyramid of quasi insurance swaps on top of these.)Printing money is the Weimar republic / Zimbabwe solution, and it fails.I do not believe there is a simple or quick solution, but the wholesale printing of money is unwise. Some limited printing of money is inevitable to stabilise the banking system but after that prudent banking must return. Perhaps you (MAII) think that we can or should continue with NINJA and Liar Loans? If so please justify your view. Mon 13 Oct 2008 09:27:56 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2008/10/does_anyone_have_55_trillion_t.html?page=0#comment0 "The price tag for their behaviour is an economic calamity. We should never have bought such snake oil. The consolation in these dark times is that we never will again."Hahahaha. What makes him so sure anyone will ever have the chance? In a way it's like saying you'll never run blinfolded over a cliff again. Anyway, it's clear nobody learned anything from the great depression. They forgot how it happened and so removed the restrictions to prevent it from happening again. There's no reason to believe that in a few generations they won't make exactly the same stupid mistake again once this is forgotten.One analyst on CNN said there are 600 trillion dollars in derivitives in the world. Now it is clear why there is a credit crunch, everyone who has any money left is clinging to it for dear life while they can. How funny to watch CNBC and hear the sigh of relief on Friday afternoon when the DOW only dropped about 130 points at the closing bell. What if it starts down again tomorrow morning. As I write this, markets in Asia are opening. We'll know soon how they are trending. To me two things are clear. If governments want to avoid a long deep recession, they will have to print lots of money and impose enormous inflation. This is the only way I see this debt being written off in any reasonable time. This is sure to cause major social dislocations and upset the entire existing applecart of the world's economies. Many hopes will be dashed. The second thing is that the only way government can assure that business will get the credit they need is to create mechanisms to bypass the banks and other lending institutions if necessary and offer credit directly in effect competing with the banks. If the banks go bust, that will be the price they paid for their own foolishness. I think events will continue to move quickly now. Unless drastic steps are taken soon, the economies of the major industrial nations will begin shutting down one by one. The US is on the verge. Where is that 700 billion Congress promised the US market? It's been a whole week already. Time to act is running out quickly. Many businesses operate on month to month, week to week, even day to day cash flows. They are very vulnerable to a credit freeze up. Sun 12 Oct 2008 22:46:46 GMT+1