Is it self-interest that stops the Government ensuring savers receive fair...
At the recent press conference for the publication of the Bank of England’s Quarterly Inflation report, Mervyn King, the Governor, defended the recent lending record of banks – fewer loans at increased...
View ArticleWhy have a crash if we don’t learn the lessons? Part 1 – Muddled messages
What you may be asking can a journalist – someone with all the popularity of an MP but without the expenses to compensate – have to tell savers about the financial crisis? If we are so clever, you may...
View ArticleWhy have a crash if we don’t learn the lessons? Part 2 – Some lessons we did...
I am old enough to have witnessed enough economic crises to need a second hand to count them, but what makes this latest one unique is the slashing of interest rates. In every other crisis I know, high...
View ArticleWhy have a crash if we don’t learn the lessons? Part 3 – More banks?
What has government learned from this experience? That we need more banks and more competition. Even though it was competition that made Northern Rock offer mortgages higher than the house value, and...
View ArticleWhy have a crash if we don’t learn the lessons? Part 4 – Making it pay to save
So what of the future? Well, austerity, higher taxes and job losses may leave us with less money, but it gives us even more reason to accumulate a nest egg. That is the paradox of saving: when we most...
View ArticleAre you being served?
This week saw yet more evidence of the woeful behaviour of Britain’s banks. Launched in August 2012, the Funding for Lending Scheme has provided UK banks with £16.5bn of cheap funds, resulting in a...
View ArticleCo-op: the bank that likes to say goodbye
We have been contacted by a member with a tale of quite extraordinary behaviour by the Co-operative Bank. A Co-op Bank customer for 20 years, he and his wife moved to the Isle of Man in 2012. When they...
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