Iain Mc

It amazes me how aghast politicians/voters are in Canada at the notion of Government (provincial or federal) running a deficit. Very refreshing when one is used to the idiocies of more-debt-please Gordon.

Dave+Jules

I guess history will work out how successful the interventions will be.

Not much us minions can do besides, clear personal debts, reduce your energy consumption, start your own version of the 'victory garden', learn how to mend and make new clothes, shoes, coats etc... (I'm seriously thinking about some of this).

dbd33

Chickens. It's difficult to imagine an easier way to better food for next to nothing than a flock of backyard chickens. If you must get more elaborate and capital intensive then look at this: http://www.portablefarms.com/index.php

JamesM

Frankly the policies of Gordon Brown infuriate me. Solving a debt problem by taking on more debt will ultimately only lead to further disaster down the road.

To my embarrasment I actually voted Labour in 2 of the last 3 elections. Believe it or not only the Liberal Democrats ever openly spoke about what the British economony was heading towards and I back them to make a bit of a political comeback next time.

Britain needs to take a long hard look at what we do as a country. Frankly throwing millions of pounds at ivy league kids and asking them to trade derivatives on derivatives is just simply not productive nor is it wealth creation.

My only question for the Canadian government is what happened to their huge surplus in oil revenues from the Oil Sands in Calgary that they were supposed to have built up in the last couple of years?

I know Toronto is being hit badly by recession with freinds in two well-established companies recently being made redundant.

Souvenir

Not to mention that exports, by value, are equivalent to about a third of the country's GDP.

dbd33

I doubt that there are many Ivy League kids in London, how would they get there and how would they get established in the cliquey world of the City?

London is a major financial centre, one might say that the primary industry is money. That's something the government must encourage as it's a source of tax revenue and employment. It may be that some financial instruments make more for the traders, and the suppliers of their software, than they do for their investors but this isn't the fault of the government. The government doesn't ask the banks to trade in derivatives and anyway the same sort of dubious trades are made elsewhere, consider Nick Leeson for example.

MB-Realtor

Thats the Provincial Government, its not a Federal asset.

JamesM

By Ivy League I was merely referring to Oxbridge, Ivy League, MBA and other Top Global Universities that the cliquey city cremes from.

Yes Finance is an important part of the economy in London but the salary's and bonuses dished out do not reflect the contribution that is made by the individuals to society. Nor todate has there been any evidence that there is a trickle down effect in the wealth with finanancial gaps between the top 10% in the UK and everyone else widening. The British government needs to look at diversifying our interests into other sectors that are of greater value to the future and where a real genuine contribution is actually being made. If they had done that in the first place the rapid decline of the UK economy might not have been as as bigger a shock or as quick.

This article I found particularly interesting on the current downturn:

http://www.thestar.com/article/546877

It is about time the so-called "Masters of the Universe" had their wings clipped.

Just watching a House of Commons debate where Gordon Brown is taking a pasting on his new financial policies and the German finance minister is being quoted.

JamesM

Thanks.

Looks like the Civil Service in Calgary is the place to be!

dbd33

Why should it? "Society" does not pay them. If they take a bail out then, yes, there's a case for limits but, so long as they're in the private sector, their compensation is an issue only for their shareholders.

Surely no one ever believed in such a thing. One may as well await a trickle down from the Queen.

This is just spite, 1980s spite at that, the Vanities have long since ceased smouldering.

JamesM

Sorry I have never figured out how to do the post disecting????

You are right the banks pay these people not society. But who deposits their money with these banks, is it not clients who form part of society? Also with the exception of HSBC I cannot think of a bank in the city that has now not had some form of bail out. I work in Sales and when deals end up going sour I have commission clawed back. When are these bankers getting their bonuses clawed back? I am merely saying that regulation and accountability is now definately needed to avoid further exploitation of financial derivatives.

With regards to trickling down unfortunately the way politician's "spin" their policies people are lead to believe in trickle down effects.

Finally Masters of the Universe is a well known phrase. In London it is widely regarded that people in "High" Finance and Law are far more detached from the realities of "real" living than successful people in other professions such as Entrepreneurs, CEO's, Doctors etc......

By the way if anyone wants to understand the credit crunch. It is brilliantly explained in this 10 minute clip: http://vimeo.com/1915392

dbd33

Really, where does it come from?

Oakvillian

James, you're being wound up. Masters of the Universe, as used in this context, is a phrase coined by Tom Wolfe in his 1987 novel "Bonfire of the Vanities" - hence dbd's earlier comment about the vanities having stopped smouldering. If I were you I'd stop digging.

dbd33

Note that I'm no fan of bankers, I just find the whole hating Gordon Gecko thing passe.

(Yes, I know Gordon Gecko wasn't the protaganist of Bonfire of the Vanities. Perhaps that was Patrick Bateman).

JamesM

Not wound up at all.

It is a well used phrase regardless of where it came from but thanks for pointing out it's origin. I was 8 years old in 1987.

Here is another one of my video's for everybody.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/499802...deral_reserve/