Reply to: Question - Where's the money?

[KentPhilip]

I had

Funny you should say that- I lost £10K last week on a spreadbet shorting the pound. Owch

[HairyArsedBloke]

Its in China and Japan.

Yup, and some of the OPEC countries.

Nope, they lent it back to the US government by buying US Treasuries.

Linky: US Treasury - MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES

Which was lent to the US Banks, .........

[Cyberman]

No doubt in your day houses were cheap and you could get by with only one bread winner, I had to go contracting just to make ends meet for my family, I really don’t know how average earners survive? No wonder so many throw the towel in and settle for a life of benefits, life in the UK is just too dam expensive.

Of course this was all masked when their ever increasing asset was good to borrow against, even though the current climate looks like a disaster it’s exactly what was needed… a big fat reality check.

My house was not cheap when I bought it 20 years ago. I did take a risk in those days and interest rates were 15% at one stage and I was paying a mortgage of 1200 pounds a month in 1992. That was a struggle and taught me a lesson, and I have not moved house since then.

I agree, it is very tough for people nowadays but some do not help themselves. For instance, I was working with a young lady that was paying 700 pounds a week to rent a house in London. Moving out of London would have saved her and her partner a fortune, as renting my 4 bed place would only be about 1,000 a month.

Brown has not helped people either, with his reluctance to raise tax bands in line with inflation since 1997 and drawing millions of people into the 40% tax bracket who never had to pay top rate tax before. The other big scandal is council tax that under the old rating system was about 500 quid prior to 1997, but now is 1500 quid for my house. The fact that 25% of council tax pays public sector pensions is a huge contributor to the constant rises.

[gingerjedi]

If anybody is massively in debt and cannot finance repayments they have only themselves to blame. Personally, I have my lowest debt levels for years, achieved by living within my means.

No doubt in your day houses were cheap and you could get by with only one bread winner, I had to go contracting just to make ends meet for my family, I really don’t know how average earners survive? No wonder so many throw the towel in and settle for a life of benefits, life in the UK is just too dam expensive.

Of course this was all masked when their ever increasing asset was good to borrow against, even though the current climate looks like a disaster it’s exactly what was needed… a big fat reality check.

[Cyberman]

He has a mom?

My mom is lovely. 81 and going strong, touch wood. Her mom lived to 102.

[BrilloPad]

Fascinating. Your mom must be so proud.

He has a mom?

[Cyberman]

Fascinating. Your mom must be so proud.

I bet your mum is proud of you voting Labour !!

[suityou01]

How come everyone is in Debt - People, companies, governments.
EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING IS IN DEBT!!!!!
Have you ever wondered how can that be? who are we in debt to?
The answer is quite amazing really - However, my take on it is that we are all in debt to ourselves. One man's mortgage (promise to pay) is another man's pension.
The really amazing part is that the banking system gets a slice, no matter what happens - and so they increase their share of the "value of the world".

However there is only a finite "value of the world" in the absolute currency of the item (e.g. 1 bridge = 1 bridge, 10 houses = 10 houses)

Of course, the world value increases if we build more things - like houses etc.
But, IMO, we have reached a point where the banking system (on paper), now has the legal rights to more "promises of world value" than there is "World value to give".

Where we go from here is the most interesting event for mankind.
It is the whole basis from which Gordon Brown stands.

If vested interests e.g. media and banking are against GB, then maybe we should try and understand why.

It may be that GB is more of a hero than you realise.

Agreed. We now have "meta-currency"

[oracleslave]

I always pay my CC balance off each month and haven't incurred interest or late payment charges for years.

Fascinating. Your mom must be so proud.

[Cyberman]

I'm dreadfully in debt.

I owe the CC company £83.79.

Good man.... I mean reptile !! I always pay my CC balance off each month and haven't incurred interest or late payment charges for years.

[expat]

Cyberman This user is on your Ignore List.

I took the hint, and now don't quote him so as not to thwart people who Ignore him.

[GreenerGrass]

Its in China and Japan.

Yup, and some of the OPEC countries.

[Ivor Bigun]

That's only been true since Brown started interfering.

Before Brown, banks had similar amounts on deposit and lent out. What they obviously lacked was the liquidity to pay everyone at once.

But that wasn't really a confidence trick, because everyone accepts that's how banks were supposed to work. I save £100 and earn interest because the bank lends it back out to someone else at a higher rate.

Safe for work - what money actually is.
- the video doesn't start until 10 seconds in
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...74362583451279

[Cyberman]

Unless you become unemployed and can't get another job at a similar pay level.
Unless you become long-term ill or are injured seriously.

Also, where on earth do you get the idea people are smart?

Unemployment is a fact of life and worst-case scenarios should be envisaged when taking out loans. Too many people did not allow themselves any leeway for saving for a rainy day, or for covering increases in mortgage interest rates. Unfortunately, Gordon did not save either because he thought the good times would never end !!!

[Cyberman]

Loans, overdrafts and mortgages are payable on demand. As the banks run dry they are calling in loans particularly business loans even though the borrower has paid on time and regularly.

Those are 'normal' debts and will always occur. The post refers mainly to personal debt which has exploded since Gordon deregulated the banks and banks started lending vast amounts for mortgages that people had no chance of paying once interest rates hit almost 8%.