Reply to: Financial Disasters

[Doggy Styles]

Lew Grade would have been fuming. After his famous flop "Raise the Titanic, he quipped "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic!"

Are there any proper characters like Lew Grade running TV these days?

[OwlHoot]

<cynical b@st@rd>
Made for a profitable film though, which is more than can be said for the Snot Goblin.
<cynical b@st@rd/>

Lew Grade would have been fuming. After his famous flop "Raise the Titanic, he quipped "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic!"

[Churchill]

'Someone or other' said we owe more now than after the second world war (although no doubt that isn't in real terms). And we paid that off quick enough, well in 60 years or so. Are we still paying for the Spanish Armada, i.e. the public debt?

We're still being taxed for the Napoleonic war...

Income Tax was announced in 1798, and introduced in 1799, as a means of paying for the war against the French forces under Napoleon.

[EternalOptimist]

Why does the list suddenly jump from actual accidents involving machinery and mechanical failure, to a completely unrelated and random comparison with public spending - no other examples of which are included in the list? There are loads of other examples which would completely eclipse any of GB's spending, however shocking that may be.

It's called guilt by association.
'Look at all these blooming disasters - hey wait - Brown is a blooming disaster as well.'

just think, if we had stuck him on piper alpha, it would have been more profitable for the country to blow it up than to let it pump oil

[TimberWolf]

'Someone or other' said we owe more now than after the second world war (although no doubt that isn't in real terms). And we paid that off quick enough, well in 60 years or so. Are we still paying for the Spanish Armada, i.e. the public debt?

[Mich the Tester]

Why does the list suddenly jump from actual accidents involving machinery and mechanical failure, to a completely unrelated and random comparison with public spending - no other examples of which are included in the list?

Because Gordon’s pocket calculator failed. It couldn't handle more than 9 digits and when Gordon saw the result 'E' in the little LCD screen after totting up revenues and subtracting expenditure he thought it meant 'Excellent!'

[dang65]

Why does the list suddenly jump from actual accidents involving machinery and mechanical failure, to a completely unrelated and random comparison with public spending - no other examples of which are included in the list? There are loads of other examples which would completely eclipse any of GB's spending, however shocking that may be.

[threaded]

I thought you might like to know that Tony B'Liar and several apparatchiks made a significant amount of money on the crash.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

[northernladuk]

Hmm, that makes my project postively insginificant. Think I can put my feet up and relax a little now!

[gingerjedi]

<cynical b@st@rd>
Made for a profitable film though, which is more than can be said for the Snot Goblin.
<cynical b@st@rd/>

$1.8bn at the box office making the entire project worthwhile.

Maybe this is just first act and though it may seem like a disaster now Gordon has a master plan to turn a profit sometime in the future?

[BoredBloke]

"6. Piper Alpha Oil Rig - $3.4 Billion > >

The world's worst off-shore oil disaster. At one time, it was the world's single largest oil producer, spewing out 31,000 barrels of oil per day. > > On July 6, 1988, as part of routine maintenance, technicians removed and checked safety valves which were essential in preventing dangerous build-up of liquid gas. 100 identical safety valves were checked. Unfortunately, the technicians made a mistake and forgot to replace one of them. At 10 PM that same night, a technician pressed a start button for the liquid gas pumps and the world's most expensive oil rig accident was set in motion. > > Within 2 hours, the 300 foot platform was engulfed in flames. It eventually collapsed, killing 167 workers and resulting in $3.4 Billion in damages."

My dad used to be on one of the rigs down from Piper Alpha and he used to say that Accidental were only interested in this record. The North Sea is a gas field that has oil in it and at Piper Alpha they would flare so much of their gas that often they would have to send gas out to the other rigs to flare the gas they couldn't handle.

[Mich the Tester]

Just found this in my inbox. Puts it all in perspective.....


11. Titanic - $150 Million > > >

The sinking of the Titanic is possibly the most famous accident in the world. But it doesn't quite make the list of top 10 most expensive, and is here because of its historical prominence. > > On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage and was considered to be the most luxurious ocean liner ever built. > Over 1,500 people lost their lives when the ship ran into an iceberg and sunk in frigid waters. The ship cost $7 million to build ($150 million in today's dollars).

<cynical b@st@rd>
Made for a profitable film though, which is more than can be said for the Snot Goblin.
<cynical b@st@rd/>

[Mich the Tester]

Is this an appropriate thread to point out that 'this would never have happened under the tories'?

[Doggy Styles]

Actually no, why am I laughing? It's going to double in less than two years, as is my share of it.

[OwlHoot]

Post that as as comment on Guido's blog, They'll love it!