Those Were The Days My Friend… The End Of The Euro Is Nigh
February 11, 2010
Martin McCauley writes: ‘Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end…’ as one famous song went.Remember the time when the euro was launched with great fanfare as the common currency of the European Union in January 2002? The French and the Germans were beside themselves with glee: the euro, they proclaimed, would become so powerful that it would eclipse the almighty US dollar and rule the world. For a while over 375 million people used the euro every day and it was considered the second most important international reserve currency. Not anymore, though. The Greek economic meltdown has undermined confidence in the euro. There is a feeling that Spain, Portugal, Ireland might follow the same path and go bust. Imagine a meeting called by the head of the European...
Let’s Be Cynical: Can One Man Steal $65 Billion?
February 3, 2010
R.F.Wilson writes: Lock up your savings, people. And your daughters as well, just in case. Hide that cash under your mattresses or, best of all, wrap it up in thick plastic and bury it in your garden. Bernie Madoff’s boys have gotten away with it and are on the look-out for more mugs who’d be ready to invest into their Ponzy schemes.Why all the fuss, you may ask. Well, let me enlighten you: the Serious Fraud Office, that’s a bunch of accountants, if you didn’t know it, have announced yesterday that it would not pursue legal action against Bernie’s British based operations. BM, as he is known among his close friends, is now doing 150 years for stealing $65 billion. Rumours reach me that he has already managed to launch an investment scheme in jail, and it has collapsed,...
Kraft Takeover Of Cadbury Has A Cheesy Whiff To It, Say Chocoholics
January 20, 2010
R.F.Wilson writes: Serious economists and finance analysts have been asking this question ever since it was revealed that Kraft, the American food giant, took a liking to Cadbury, the British owned chocolate producer: will Cadbury’s chocolates have a cheesy flavour once the deal is done. Some very serious experts even said that the whole takeover battle, which has culminated yesterday in Kraft finally getting its bid approved by Cadbury, had a strong smell of cheese right from the start. Why would an American company that hates all things British and makes cheese, they asked, would want to own a British chocolate business? And why would a British bank, RBS, help Kraft raise the money to buy a British company, a move that would result in jobs going? Why indeed. Meanwhile millions of chocolate...
A New Player Moves Into The Caribbean. Will Off-Shore Banking Ever Be The Same?
January 6, 2010
Martin McCauley writes: The twelve English speaking tiny states in the Caribbean have always lived under the dominancy of the big players. First it was Britain, then the US. But now a new nation is muscling in on the turf, China. Beijing comes laden with gifts – long term loans and development projects. The big question, though, is: if comrades from Beijing move in, would off-shore banking in the Caribbean ever be the same again? And would you need to be a member of the Communist Party of China to open an off-shore account?But seriously: recently the chair of the National People’s Congress of China, Woo Bungguo, descended on the Bahamas, his entourage including 150 officials and company execs. Several deals were signed, including the mutual protection of Chinese and Bahamian investors...
It Is Time To Boycott Chinese Made Goods. For Quite A Few Reasons
December 31, 2009
Anton Goryunov writes from Moscow: I’m really fed up with all the Chinese junk that is sold everywhere in Russia and beyond it. Every time I buy something, I know that somewhere there is a label on it saying ‘Made in China’. And how I rejoice – on very rare occasions – if it turns out that it was made somewhere else. Oh, he is full of hatred, I can hear some people saying, having read this. He is denying the Chinese people the right to earn their living! Disgraceful! Well, sue me, you politically correct buffoons! Why should I care what you think. I am tired of being forced to buy junk so that some clever retailer can make a quick buck and some Chinese worker can earn his 000,5 cents, sitting in some crappy factory for 18 hours. I pay my own money and I can demand...
Here’s A Shocker: The Current Mess Was Caused By False Statistics
December 21, 2009
R.F.Wilson writes: In the bad old days of the Soviet Union no one really paid any attention to economic data. It meant absolutely nothing. It was designed to hail the benefits of the socialist economy, and the many advantages for the people living in the USSR. Outstanding results were reported by all industries, even despite the fact that the Soviet Union produced the worst consumer goods in the world and bought wheat and grain from the West. Everyone knew that the stats had nothing to do with reality but couldn’t do anything about it. Until, that is, the economy simply crashed one day, bringing down the Soviet Union. China was, and still is, no better than the old USSR. You can ask anyone in China and they will tell you how the stats had been forged in the past and how they are still...
Mervyn The Superhero Ends The Recession In Britain. Singlehandedly
November 14, 2009
R.F.Wilson writes: Was it not only a few months ago that we were told that the current recession was as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s and that it would take at least a couple of years to get out of it? But thanks to the efforts of one man, a superhero, a miracle has happened in Britain: the big R is no longer here. It is all but gone. The country is now on the road to recovery and in the first quarter of next year that so much needed economic growth will finally be achieved. Who is this superhero, you are probably asking. Well, despite looking a bit like a horny toad, he has practically singlehandedly saved the British nation from total collapse. The man’s name is Mervyn King, and he is the Governor of the Bank of England. Mr King has delivered his quarterly report this week...
Recession Watch: Recovery, What Recovery?
November 9, 2009
R.F.Wilson writes: As they say, one man’s happiness is another man’s woe. Or, if you like the politically correct version of the same thing, one person’s happiness is another person’s woe. What is he on about, I can easily imagine people out there thinking. Strangely enough, I intend to discuss the economic recovery that has, as if by magic, descended on the world that has only a couple of months ago been struggling for breath under the weight of a devastating recession that many economists were comparing to the Great Depression of the 1930s. But that was two months ago and now the recovery is here. Germany and France and Italy and the United States and even Russia are supposedly out of it. These and other mighty nations have registered economic growth in the third...
British Airways Is Losing Money Again. I Blame Willie
November 7, 2009
R.F.Wilson writes: Before I analyse the situation that the world’s favourite airline, British Airways, has found itself in, I would like to ask you this: is it proper that a huge company is run by a man who calls himself Willie? This is a serious matter, by the way, for I would have numerous reservations about the judgement of a top executive who has decided to operate under the name of Willie. Mr Willie Walsh could have at least chosen some other first name, and even Francis or Cicero would have sounded better, to be quite honest. Tony as a first name I would not recommend, as it has been seriously tarnished by a number of criminal godfathers and the previous British Prime Minister Blair. Barack, of course, would be very good, considering the presence of the current President in the...
My Advice To Governments: Print Money To Help People, Not Banks
November 6, 2009
Adam Lovejoy writes: Have you ever wondered why is it that governments around the world are bailing out banks that have no desire to share the money they get with anyone else? Not only that, but bankers stoop so low as to pay themselves bonuses from the funds that they have been given to resume lending to businesses and individuals, to help them survive in the recession. The fact of the matter is that however much money you give to bankers, they will find a way to misuse it. Because that is how they are: greedy bastards who think only of themselves. Now, we all know that the money that the governments in the West have been injecting into the banking sector was hastily printed. In Britain they even found a term for that, ‘quantitive easing’. That means flooding the financial markets...
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