CeeBee

I'm a bit confused. Perhaps some of the economy bods on here can help.

There's apparently this global credit crisis which people are going on about....nobody can lend money, nobody has got money etc etc.

So, where did all the money go? It isn't like it's just disappeared. Somebody, somewhere. Take this for instance.

Clearly the local boys don't give two hoots about this 'crisis'.

The latest numberplate auction held by the Dubai Road and Transport Authority (RTA) raised a total of 23.5 million dirhams ($6.4million) with number plate E 30 fetching 4 million dirhams, UAE daily Gulf News reported on Saturday.

Fierce competition among 200 bidders for the three-digit number plate F 100, pushing the price of that number up to 2.3 million dirhams, boosting total proceeds of three-digit numbers on offer, including F 400, F 250, F 112, to 8.1 million, it added.

The four-digit numbers group was topped by F 1111 which was sold for 1.8 million dirhams, and included 1111, 3333, 1177, 2244, 6677, 5550, 6660, 9990, 1003, 2001, and 6009 as well as other numbers under E, F, G, and H categories. Total proceeds of this series amounted to 5.8 million, it said.

Blue Cat

the current situation won't affect the mega rich, well at least I don't think it will but then I am not an IFA

The Dean

Where's the money gone?

Well many in this region are fortunate that they don't have investment exposure to some of the basket cases elsewhere in the world............

............like shares in General Motors for example. When a share price falls, it genuinely represents a 'disappearance' of your money.

GM Closing Share Price end-January 2008: USD 28.31
Latest GM Closing Share Price: USD 3.36
Percentage Fall: 88%

[ *repeats ad infinitum for vast number of shares throught the world* ]

W10

But they do...thats the problem.

The UAE has sizeable (billions of dollars) stakes in some of the companies which have spent the last year tanking in share price.

But, hey, no problems here...

The Dean

......... and in any case, the money that that number plate auction fetched was way down on auctions in earlier years........

MacScot

Johnnie Walker Red Label whisky at the Hilton Jumeira Beach Hotel jumped from 35 to 40 dirhams...but recently found Mai Tai at the Oasis Beach Tower...29 dirhams for a wee dram !

CeeBee

Ah ok yeah....that makes sense.

The wise investor now would start consider buying bits of shares - maybe not just yet, but in the next 12 months. I know I would if I had spare cash. Especially with the likes of GM. There's no way a company like that would go under.

In fact, its just clicked. Banks rely heavily on shares, shares drop....money gone. Answer??.....print some more money.

Somebody told to me a while ago that we are now coming out of the 60 year boom after the World War now that the world has effectively been rebuilt and basically, thats it, game over. Or something along those lines.

The Dean

You could be right.............

Shares of Dow component General Motors <GM.N> surged in premarket trade on Wednesday as investors bet that a government bailout was increasingly
likely. The stock advanced 14 percent to $3.33.

CeeBee

Damn it....missed the boat again. I always come up with amazing ideas after they've happened.

Yanks are too proud to see a brand like GM go under.

Hello.Kitty

yup, what we need now is a really good war... thank god Mr Bush has gone!

Worldismine

Its mostly to do with confidence. Eg a lot of wealth is not really hard value items such as gold, oil or even currency, its about peoples confidence, perception and desire to invest and anticipation of investments yielding results. When these things are low, people lose money on investments that they could never touch or consume and that were dependent on confidence and bluffing (shares), banks are reluctant to invest and lend and those that suffer most are the average joes stuck in the credit/finance dependent system. Maybe what I just said is complete shite, but thats how I logicise(new word I just made up) and interpret what I see and read on the news.

On £ notes, it says I promise to pay the bearer the sum of xxxx on demand, this is because originally worthless notes of paper and bits of coin were given its value by being a front for actual gold reserves—to ease transactions and save people carrying around bricks of wealth— and the bearer of, say, a £50 note could go to the bank and exchange it for its equal value in gold. Over time for whatever reason, the amount of currency floating around outweighed the gold and in effect the promise has long been broken, now the value of currency is also based on intangible things.

IndieG

Democrats are pressing hard to include a multi-billion dollar bailout for faltering automakers however, the administration is opposed to using the rescue fund to bail out the ailing auto industry....let's see what happen finally. There's only so much money going around to provide bail-outs

Madam Medusa

money is only a state of mind...it will return in due course...

MM, xx

The Dean

When GM shares climb back up to USD 28, you mean?

Yes I agree............

Charismatic

There is less debt being issued and therefore less money to go around (debt is money), it keeps going until someone goes "Gosh golly! I could buy XYZ company for 50p...let me check down the back of the sofa".

I don't believe these "apocalypse comming" types. There are businesses out there, good business, that will not just survive but use this time to increase their market share. The good news is that in the ends we'll all survive, but we may have to stop spending more than we earn in the short term .

ETA: What is the difference between stating, "Mission accomplished," and, "No more boom and bust"?

One allows you to wear a pilot's uniform, the other a dinner suit.