"If you want to be seriously wealthy the message from the Forbes list is clear. One way or another you need to have played the system, played the financial markets, been born to the right class or manipulated government to have got rich." "The great mistake of the free-market revolution was to argue that all that was needed to make capitalism work was free, lightly regulated and flexible markets – and that institutions imposing ethics, transparency, accountability got in the way. We now know better."

Posted by letthemfall @ 04:54 PM 6 Comments

The comments are priceless.

Sellers have been forced to spend thousands of pounds eradicating Japanese knotweed from their land after finding their homes had become virtually unsellable because potential buyers were being turned down for mortgages. In some cases, banks have even refused to lend on properties where the plant has been found growing on neighbouring land.

MSW suggests replacing stamp duty with capital gains. Good idea. Politicians think - bad idea

Posted by letthemfall @ 01:17 PM 17 Comments

A bit longish and technical but worth reading if you want to understand how money is created and circulated in the economy, what is the role of the banks, etc. The graph there is particularly neat showing how the “money machine” works.

Posted by ant @ 10:54 AM 32 Comments

I am well aware that jobs are limited in parts of US....and in the past parts of liverpool you could get at house for a few thousand in the nineties...but where in the uk could you buy these sorts of property?imo the internet and rightmove turns mosts parts of the country into the same average house prices despite the fact some areas like cornwall have no jobs and very low wages but high housprices...WE HAVE FAILED OUR CHILDREN

Posted by taffee @ 09:46 AM 9 Comments

Everyone but the rich is outraged by the financiers' billowing wealth. At the budget, Labour can tip the balance back to the people

Posted by devo @ 09:29 AM 11 Comments

An analysis by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) last year suggested that a quarter of the £20bn annual interest saving, brought about by the Bank of England's 0.5% bank rate, was showing up in higher mortgage capital repayments. The only question left is what the other 75% are doing with the money they save. Probably having a ball as Smugdog suggested yesterday.

The latest report on the property market in China is truly frightening. Despite measures taken by authorities to reign in the price explosion in Chinese real estate, prices rose at the fastest clip in nearly two years in February. Unless you have faith in the ability of China's central planners to perfectly negotiate a soft landing, you should be preparing for a rough crash.

Not something you normally associate with rationing. Do we get a book of coupons? "Other commentators have said that new regulations from the European Union could force UK banks to reduce the size of their balance sheets by as much as £530 billion over the next three to four years.". You never can trust nameless commentators. I find it hard to believe that that the UK can drive down debt and borrowing to that extent.

Posted by stillthinking @ 10:26 PM 7 Comments