Anyone who thinks the situation is within the range of historical precedent should consider this statistic released this week.

The amount of "delinquent" mortgages in the USA, i.e. those in foreclosure or behind on their payments, is now ....... 9%.

Incidentally the US Government has played its last card effectively nationalizing Freddie Mac and Fannie May, 50% of all the mortgages in the USA are now underwritten by the state. And they have paid "real" money for something the market said was worthless. The effect of this on the value of the dollar and the creditworthiness of the US government itself could see the USA bankrupt.

We are now one step, completely in the hands of none Western powers, from then complete transformation of the world as we know it.

BBC NEWS | Business | US takes over key mortgage firms
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Some people were conCERNed that today would witness the end of the world and for Lehman Brothers it was.

BBC NEWS | Business | Lehman reports third quarter loss
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Originally Posted by Gregory Lauder-Frost:
Our utility companies, which provide things as fundamental to human life as water, have been sold to foreigners. Our nation's essential infrastructure is being sold from beneath our feet.

In my experience, the sell off and rampant exploitation of people by the public utilities has made people very very angry. 35% price increases. The only answer that I can see is to nationalise the utilities.

The continued melt down in America, with Lehman Brothers going bust, Meryl Lynch weakening, and the AIG insurance collapsing, shows the house of cards character of the casino economy. It is a bit like the period leading up to 'White Wednesday' when the pound was booted out of the ERM. Speculators bet on a weak currency, cashed in and then moved on to the next weakest currency. The American government propping up Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae merely encourages the speculation to move on to the next weak point, and drag it down.

That Tim Berners Lee was today lamenting the way rumours spread through the internet is not entirely unconnected from all this.

At the time when the Northern Rock crisis was gathering pace, various other British banks (ex building societies) were being touted as the next weak points in the chain to go.

The lesson is that we need exceedingly robust import and export controls, the prevention of credit trading and currency speculation to protect our economies. We need to dismantle this global economy. Fat chance of our getting this from the Westmister system.
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There is a persuasive argument, which isn't being made and yet and yet I refer to in order to lend weight to my own analysis, that the web of connected phenomenon we call "globalization" has ground into reverse.

Briefly I cite these phenomenon.

Resource Nationalism: The trend of national governments to reject global capitalism's ownership of their sovereign resources. One aspect of this is the reserving of certain resources for national consumption instead of being sold on the international commodity markets. The most famous example being the oil industry of Venezuela but other examples include the ban on Vietnamese rice exports. Incidentally this phenomena caused the peaking of export oil supply in 2005 as more of the supply was reserved for domestic consumption.

The collapsing international transport system: Particularly the airline industry, where connections still exist they are increasingly unavailable to any but the rich. Severely reducing the vaunted international migration processes. There are also indicators that the international freight system (containerization) is becoming more expensive and even being interdicted by piracy.

Collapsing international financial networks. No comment needed.

Last week the collapse of XL airlines ended air services to some small Caribbean nations all together as they ran the only service. These nations are the first to be disconnected from the global system, they may not be the last.
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Originally Posted by Stephen Booth:
In my experience, the sell off and rampant exploitation of people by the public utilities has made people very very angry. 35% price increases. The only answer that I can see is to nationalise the utilities.

The continued melt down in America, with Lehman Brothers going bust, Meryl Lynch weakening, and the AIG insurance collapsing, shows the house of cards character of the casino economy. It is a bit like the period leading up to 'White Wednesday' when the pound was booted out of the ERM. Speculators bet on a weak currency, cashed in and then moved on to the next weakest currency. The American government propping up Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae merely encourages the speculation to move on to the next weak point, and drag it down.

That Tim Berners Lee was today lamenting the way rumours spread through the internet is not entirely unconnected from all this.

At the time when the Northern Rock crisis was gathering pace, various other British banks (ex building societies) were being touted as the next weak points in the chain to go.

The lesson is that we need exceedingly robust import and export controls, the prevention of credit trading and currency speculation to protect our economies. We need to dismantle this global economy. Fat chance of our getting this from the Westmister system.

The deregulating of the banking system and making building societies banks etc., ( a bit like making all polytechnics and minor colleges universities) in this country coupled with permitting foreigners to buy either completely or more than 50% of the stock in British companies is a nationally bankrupt idea and means that we have no control over what happens in our country.

Nationalism need not be a dirty word. It worked well in Singapore. If applied intelligently it could mean that we would still be able to float as other countries sink. One would think the Great Depression would have taught the government of the UK something. But it hasn't. Instead our people are being ground down into the dust. People cannot heat their homes; they are stranded abroad on holidays; they are taxed into the ground at every opportunity on every conceivable thing. Now the values of most people's principal asset, their homes, is being ripped from under them, not because of anything in the UK but because of the USA mortgage markets. Its beyond belief.

Like so many other things, when WILL the British electorate wake up?
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Yes, stephen, and we must nationalise the banks.
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Forecasts suggest 30 more airlines to go by Xmas. Alitalia and Alaska are seriously exposed. Meanwhile the Brit Government talks of more terminals at our airports. The words Potemkin and City are linked.

Austrian Airlines mustn't fail before 5th October otherwise I'm stranded in Belarus!
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The excrement has indeed hit the cooling device - in very large amounts
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Originally Posted by Aardvark:
Forecasts suggest 30 more airlines to go by Xmas. Alitalia and Alaska are seriously exposed. Meanwhile the Brit Government talks of more terminals at our airports. The words Potemkin and City are linked.

Austrian Airlines mustn't fail before 5th October otherwise I'm stranded in Belarus!

Alitalia have been effectively bankrupt for as long as I can remember. they have a massive trades union problem. Gatwick Airport was put on the market today by BAA.

You must be quite well-off to be using Austrian Airlines!
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Yes, Baa put Gatwick on the market on the orders of the monopolies commission.

Legislation will be enacted to circumvent the Monopoly laws if they get in the way of the imminent merger of HBOS and Lloyds.

Questions

Why is it good for BAA but not for HBOS/Lloyds?
Will not this big, new institution take advantage of their new powerful position to trade unfairly?
Do politicians lie?
Will these new powerful bankers lie?
Did not the boss of HBOS say, only yesterday, that HBOS was the safest bank on the High St.
Will the new, all powerful bank bosses lie?
What is the source of all this money that the BoE is throwing around?
If the monopoly laws are to be circumvented, were they needed in the first place?
I'm confused. com.
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