Financial markets are too important

[Mich the Tester]

Financial people, sort yourselves out. There are lots of us who would actually rather not give a tulip about what you do from day to day. I prefer not to give a tulip about whatever it is you do with your derivativey-optionny-put-thingummyjigs, because I make my living testing computer systems that do something I find interesting. Lady Tester earns a living looking after people who are old and decrepit and finds that much more satisfying than worrying about the fluctuations in the price of the Zorbian Groat against the Eurolira. You have become too bloody important and got above your place.

Basically what I’m saying is this; banks are a utility. Banks provide a means of storing money, spreading it about, linking capital that has no destination to investment that needs liquidity. A bit like the water company move excess water around and pipe it to my home so I can drink it, wash and shower and have a dump. They do their work, I never hear anything from them and when I turn the tap, water comes out. For this, I pay them each month. I don’t see them on the headlines of the news every day. They don’t try to sell me future options on tap water. They just sit there in the background and do their job without panicking wildly about the value of tap water every time a small child in Equatorial Guinea jumps in a puddle and gets a drip of water in his wellies. Banks should be the same.

[HairyArsedBloke]

Financial people, sort yourselves out. There are lots of us who would actually rather not give a tulip about what you do from day to day. I prefer not to give a tulip about whatever it is you do with your derivativey-optionny-put-thingummyjigs, because I make my living testing computer systems that do something I find interesting. Lady Tester earns a living looking after people who are old and decrepit and finds that much more satisfying than worrying about the fluctuations in the price of the Zorbian Groat against the Eurolira. You have become too bloody important and got above your place.

Basically what I’m saying is this; banks are a utility. Banks provide a means of storing money, spreading it about, linking capital that has no destination to investment that needs liquidity. A bit like the water company move excess water around and pipe it to my home so I can drink it, wash and shower and have a dump. They do their work, I never hear anything from them and when I turn the tap, water comes out. For this, I pay them each month. I don’t see them on the headlines of the news every day. They don’t try to sell me future options on tap water. They just sit there in the background and do their job without panicking wildly about the value of tap water every time a small child in Equatorial Guinea jumps in a puddle and gets a drip of water in his wellies. Banks should be the same.

I have a lot of experience at being 'old and decrepit' , but when I go on about that sort of subject I get told off.

[AtW]

There are lots of us who would actually rather not give a tulip about what you do from day to day.

You should every time you refuel your car or any anything that includes speculative markup thanks to casino games on the markets.

[Mich the Tester]

You should every time you refuel your car or any anything that includes speculative markup thanks to casino games on the markets.

Ah, but this is my point. I don’t want to know. I just want the fuel price to be reasonably predictable so I don’t turn up at the pump and find it costs me 16 times as much to fuel up as the day before. I know that there are lots of clever thingies like futures markets to realize this aim, but surely if the clever thingies are working properly, I won’t notice them?

[Tarquin Farquhar]

Ah, but this is my point. I don’t want to know. I just want the fuel price to be reasonably predictable so I don’t turn up at the pump and find it costs me 16 times as much to fuel up as the day before. I know that there are lots of clever thingies like futures markets to realize this aim, but surely if the clever thingies are working properly, I won’t notice them?

Futures markets working? They are used much more as a casino than as a way of smoothing price fluctuations. A barrel of oil is traded 24 times on average before it gets to the pump. Most of these trades are just gambling.

But banks are worse than that. Every time they create anothe euro by the magic of fractional reserve banking, that euro belongs to them, and they get it free. Which means that we now owe them another euro.


As Lord Acton (he of the "absolute power corrupts absolutely") said, "The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks."

[Le Rosbif]

The bank of England has been created to allow Britain to create a government bond.
It's been a massive success.
With the money harvested, Britain has created the largest navy of the time and created a very prolific empire.
Banks are sometime mor than just an utility.