Short-selling ban is a 'mind-blowingly stupid' knee jerk reaction

[AtW]

It was their job to target one measure of inflation - which included chinese goods so rates wre higher than needed. Isn't it the fault of who set the target than those who met it?

Yes it's their fault. Any honest person in place of BoE board would resign in protest against Govt who rigged stats measure they had to use. They did not do it and they had a job to look at long term consequences of what they were doing - rates should have been put up at least 5 years ago to stop creating housing bubble.

Of course the Govt is guilty much further than BoE - Gordon Brown specifically as it was him who played this debt game in order to last long enough to be PM. I really don't think there are many examples in history of countries where minister engaged in such a long and dangerous game for sake of personal career only to have it crash on him once he got the job he wanted

[tim123]

They are not even 10% sure .

I know that they are not, I asked you to assume it was possible!

tim

[tim123]

Yes it's their fault. Any honest person in place of BoE board would resign in protest against Govt who rigged stats measure they had to use. They did not do it and they had a job to look at long term consequences of what they were doing - rates should have been put up at least 5 years ago to stop creating housing bubble.

I'm sorry, no!

Interest rates affect everybody. Most importantly they affect industry (what's left of it). You don't go around putting them up to stop a house price bubble, you use other measues for that.

tim

[AtW]

You don't go around putting them up to stop a house price bubble, you use other measues for that.

If other measures (strict limit on max salary multiplier for loans) worked then fair enough - the BoE however purposefully dropped rates in order for housing boom to continue - with absense of other controls they should not have allowed this to happen. All they did was to defer the problem into the future and making it worse this way. No doubt they were pushed by Brown as in my view BoE is not independent at all.

[BrilloPad]

I'm sorry, no!

Interest rates affect everybody. Most importantly they affect industry (what's left of it). You don't go around putting them up to stop a house price bubble, you use other measues for that.

tim

IMO it should be part of the measures used. its a very blunt tool and other measures can have loopholes.

Sorry but industry was laid low by excessive unions and very poor management.

People in this country think that the world owes us a living - in fact if it was not for our geography and English being the global language we would now be a third world country.

[HairyArsedBloke]

People in this country think that the world owes us a living - in fact if it was not for our geography and English being the global language we would now be a third world country.

On the other hand - many think that the rest of the world believe that is owed a living by us and a decreasing proportion of the country speak English.

[tim123]

IMO it should be part of the measures used. its a very blunt tool and other measures can have loopholes.

I don't think it matters that there are loopholes. By making the rules you send out a message, to both banks and potential house buyers, that you think the market is overheated and that an attempt is to be made to stop price rises by fiscal intervention.

Most of the buying in the past three years has been by investors[1] who were only buying because they expected 15% pa rises to continue forever. Telling then that this is not going to happen will discourage most of them.

[1] many of those investors being normal occupiers.

Sorry but industry was laid low by excessive unions and very poor management..

I'll tell my friend that his trip to work to run his manufacturing company is a dream that he has every day then.

tim

[BrilloPad]

I'll tell my friend that his trip to work to run his manufacturing company is a dream that he has every day then.

tim

You can tell your friend from me I take my hat off to him for working in manufactruring in this country. We need more like him.

[tim123]

You can tell your friend from me I take my hat off to him for working in manufactruring in this country. We need more like him.

I know, I think he's a nutcase as well

tim