Hush- The Grown-Ups Are Talking

[poliphilo]

It's like being a child again. The TV news is on, the talking heads are speaking a language that is recognisably English, but what they're saying is going right over my head. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (the man with the startlingly white hair and the startlingly black eyebrows) has just borrowed a whole heap of money to lend to the bankers who bankrupted themselves- and the world- by borrowing more than they could repay. The talking heads seem to think this is a good idea. The Prime Minister certainly does. He stands at his lectern and - in that curiously disengaged, unimpassioned tone of his- speaks words like "daring" and "vision". To me it seems like the pit just got deeper- but who am I to be arguing with the grown-ups?

The Conservative Shadow Chancellor wants it written into the Save the Bankers deal that they can't just share out the new money among themselves in the shape of bonuses. Hear, hear!  It would also be nice to see the heads of those who have awarded themselves unfeasible bonuses in the past being displayed on spikes on Temple Bar- but I don't suppose either is going to happen.

Comments

[aellia.livejournal.com]

Oh,and the Prime Minister's joke when a mobile phone rang!
I don't think it's funny or clever.

I don't understand it all but have just heard that our County Council has lots of money in the Icelandic bank.
Lean times ahead
x

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I missed the "joke". Brown is someone who shouldn't even attempt to be funny.

I'm just amazed to discover that tiny little Iceland has all these banks.

[litchick.livejournal.com]

I friended you through Upasaka, hope that's cool. :-)

Yeah, I feel the same way in the US. Hopefully we can elect someone worthy of leaning us through this mess.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Very cool. I've friended you back.

I reckon this is a storm that will just have to be weathered. I doubt whether any politician has the answer.

[litchick.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you. I would just rather have a steady hand in the white house instead of a fear monger. heh.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Should you be interested in an explanation of how this crisis came about, one that doesn't involve the use of a third eyelid, I found this one-hour presentation amazingly helpful:

http://thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=365

It's an hour long, but for me was an hour well spent, since the producers didn't assume their audience knew anything about the financial world. I understand the episode will only be available for the remainder of this week, so make haste, if you want it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'll check it out.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Or there's a transcript of the previous episode here all about the sub-prime mortages. I've just read it and everything suddenly makes a lot more sense.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'll have a look.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

The economist Paul Krugman, who I tend to trust implicitly, seems to think that Gordon Brown's plan is good and should be implemented here in the States in some form as well:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/to-do-not-to-do/

If you listen to that "This American Life" episode, they discuss this approach near the end of their presentation. I think they call it a "stock injection plan". It was tried in Sweden some years ago, when that country experienced a similar collapse, and it apparently worked well.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Interesting.

Brown was routinely being rated as Britain's worst ever PM before this crisis hit. Now his stock is rising. Economics is his comfort zone and he has acted boldly and firmly.

[(Anonymous)]

How about this article? Should we be crapping ourselves about impending financial doom, or concentrating on what really matters. Good to see the Government might be starting to think more holistically:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7657465.stm

Tom F

Another interesting happiness article

[(Anonymous)]

I really enjoyed this article
http://www.cracked.com/article_15231_7-reasons-21st-century-making-you-miserable.html

It has some interesting points about online communities and communication.

Tom F

Re: Another interesting happiness article

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Funny- and shrewd.

I love the pictures of the sad bear.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link.

I've always acted on the principle that you don't need to be vastly wealthy to be happy. All you need is shelter, food, a modicum of security and a bit of money left over for treats.

But I wonder if it's really possible to measure people's happiness. Can you trust them not to lie?

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, would that be the same as exam results which improve each year, seemingly as the pupils become less worldy-wise and knowledgable?
I.e. they wouldn't ever show a decline in happiness, they'd tweak the "happiness algorithm".
Would displaying that everyone is getting happier have a knock-on, placebo effect on peoples happiness also?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I just think happiness is too subjective a state to measure. It's not about ticking boxes. The thing that makes me happy today may very well make me miserable tororrow. Am I happy now- at this present moment in time? I really don't know.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

In that limited sense, I suppose you're lucky to have Brown. We've a dithering, ineffectual idiot at the helm, as I'm sure you've noticed. In a time of profound financial crisis we are left leaderless, with half the legislature trying to do something constructive - besides getting themselves re-elected - and the other half trying to prove their opponents are socialists or worse.

As a friend of Paul Krugman's observed, we've become a "banana republic, with nukes".

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

Sounds a lot like our plan. So, who is copying whom?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't really know. I think the Brown plan goes further than yours- because I've read US commentators saying you guys should copy it.