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Further, the Fed is buying massive amounts of mortgages to depress and distort the mortgage rate. This way of subsidizing bank profits and increasing their capital bails out these institutions but avoids going to Congress for more money to do so. It follows the Fed's usual practice of protecting big banks instead of the public.
Hoocoodanode? Does this call mean the U.K. double-dipped?
But at least their homes are skyrocketing in value. Right?
These new economic realities require a cognitive dissonance that I'm not capable of.
Um, how will TPTB put lipstick on this
The key difference between the UK and the USA is that things are dreadfully expensive in the UK, gas is close to $10 a gallon, and at the point of sale in a pub, a pint of ale is also around $10.
I don't normally re-post but in this case I will. The pound is taking a beating in the currency markets and down 1.29% (last I looked) against the dollar. Race to the bottom just picked up a little speed.
China's 8.9% Growth Is a Sugary Fairy Tale
How can a country have robust consumer sales, nagging deflation and rapid monetary expansion all at the same time? One reason is that vast quantities of consumer goods are now sitting in warehouses.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
It would appear that it's not a deflationary depression then-
Yes, but the pound has recovered from $1.58, and in the depths of it's slump, from $1.37 !!!!!!!!
It's still looking pretty good!! [Plays Eye of the Tiger]
Chainsaw wrote:
Tyler sold his soap to department stores at $20 a bar. Lord knows what they charged. It was beautiful. We were selling rich women their own fat ^sses back to them.
.
That kind.
Um, how will TPTB put lipstick on this?
Who gives a shit about some backwater country across the pond?
(there..... that's how they'll spin it).
That is unless you are long British stocks. About a half hour ago the FTSE was up .73% Like our market when the currency dives, stocks soar.
I wonder if the UK is up for a quick war to take their minds of the economy...
Of course, there is the chance that fears over the dollar’s demise are overblown. After all, the greenback’s most recent slide may simply reflect an unwinding of the global flight to safety that bolstered the currency’s value following the implosion of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The danger that the dollar will be replaced as the world’s reserve currency also seems remote. It would take decades and significant changes in the global economic order for, say, the Chinese yuan or a basket of currencies to fill the dollar’s shoes.
You hope.
Inquiring minds want to know who is buying long bonds in either the UK or US? oh wait-I know.
Battle of Hastings hurdle for #79, Norman is that you?
CR didn't reference this in the excerpts, but this disappointment is setting the stage for more QE by the Bank of England. Which, of course, sets the stage for more QE later by the Fed.
The regulators are forbidding past employees to break their NDA in an investor lawsuit alleging fraud against Freddie Mac. What are they hiding?
Freddie Mac's Secrecy Pacts Face Court Test - NY Times
MERS is examined once again in this article but with a key paragraph describing allegations I have ran across several times:
"Astonishingly, representatives for the trusts have been foreclosing on homes across the country, evicting the families, then auctioning the homes, without a proper paper trail on the mortgage assignments or proof that they had legal standing. In some cases, the courts have allowed the representatives to foreclose and evict despite their admission that the original mortgage note is lost. (This raises the question as to whether these mortgage notes are really lost or might have been fraudulently used in multiple securitizations, a concern raised by some Wall Street veterans.)"
Pam Martens: Judges Start Nixing Foreclosures
Smoke means fire.
Empires in decay never see themselves in their predecessors.
Next week's US GDP reading for Q3 will be interesting. While the chance of a negative change is almost nil, I believe there is a high likelihood that growth will have fallen far short of the consensus expectation of 3.1%.
Iceland seems easy pickings right now, eh?
The UK also has a thick layer of all-pervasive property crime that makes it hard to own anything at all that attracts attention.
This is partly a function of how densely people are packed together on the small island.
Remember the goode olde days when QE2 referred to a stately cruise ship?
Tell the Brits that it's ok because the recession is over in the US.
THE GREAT FRAUDULATION Although David Rosenberg has been incorrect for the entire move up in equities, I firmly believe that his message has been largely correct. This recovery has not been built on sound fundamentals and organic growth. It has been built on the back of government stimulus and the greatest mean reversion in modern economic times. Whether it sprouts into an actual organic and healthy growing economy is still very much in doubt.
CR, at some point today, you probably should revisit the fallout from the NY Superior Court decision yesterday, which potentially affects 70,000 or so NYC rent-stabilized apartments (mostly in Manhattan) and is casting gloom today over the city's residential CRE community.
Joy and Questions Among Residents of Complex - NY Times
Top State Court Faults Rent Rise At Big Complexes - NY Times
Ruling Sets Off Tough Calculations for Landlords, and Causes Some to Cancel Deals - NY Times
,rad Dawgma,
They say you can only see Peak Country many years after the fact...
But they won't tell us that until the revised data are released.
Money for nothing:
Goldman Sachs Still Paid for Swaps on Redeemed Bonds (Update2) - Bloomberg.com
Thank glod they are still a premier tourist destination!
Cinco-X
The answer is that Beijing's statisticians have gone back to their old tactic of making up figures to support the Politburo's predictions.
Did they learn this from us or did they write the playbook?
Nanoo-Nanoo wrote:
Iceland seems easy pickings right now, eh?
Magic Military 8-Ball says: "Outcome uncertain, ask again later."
RD,
I see QE2 and have to translate it twice.
Does anyone else watch the M1 and M2 statements from the fed? Did that come out yet?
The third brick wrote:
I was gonna say unbelievable, but then again, it IS NJ
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Of peak oil or peak urbanism or...
The visionaries are apostate in their own times.
Experts agree that free money is the best kind.
tncubsfan wrote:
You're taking about one of the oldest contiguous cultures in the world, and the inventors of state bureaucracy- We learned it from them-
Brits are held back by their myopic vision of the aristocracy. Pror to 1949 Brits were "the Queen's subjects", "Her Majesty's subjects", etc. as it is still used in British legal discourse. They became British citizens and not British subjects under the 1981 Act.
the governor of NJ is the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs. go figure...
From the StLouis Fed;
Probably old, but interesting nonetheless; cliff diving in industrial production, though it appears the world has hit a ledge and given up a little momentum over the last 4-6 months...
This is an important essay by Martin Armstrong, and he describes how the Ancient Romans debauched their money, and how things went off the cliff in short order...
The Romans did it with coins, we've done it with computer blips
http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/How-ALL-Systems-Can-Collapse-Overnight-709.pdf
From article on LLoyds -
Same pc fall in Ireland for residential. Plus all those lovely Spanish second homes...
A nice combination I suppose
Lending to the commercial property became troubled after a 45pc fall in UK assets values and has become highly problematic for banks, with £225bn of outstanding debt linked to the sector.
Lloyds property bosses leave as bank calls in Land Securities - Telegraph
Cinco-X, in the last thread I recanted about how this sort of silliness takes place across the country including school districts, small municipalities, etc. The ARS mess and Interest rate swaps, CDSs etc are into everyones pocket. Small school districts hire 'investment' gurus to play that for them, I just love my tax dollars paying for that stuff. Hospitals and any other participants in munibonds got their clocks cleaned last year, its still happening too. People cannot get their principal back, it is arranged so that large brokerages that issued them organized so there is no one to nail or prosecute.
This is a backbone for credit for main street, I wonder why anyone would buy municipal bonds these days given the degree of waste and dishonesty associated with these formerly secure and simple investment vehicles of non-millionaire investors. and See: Alabama
Cinco-X wrote:
LOL - then there was that sizable investment in Lehman brothers that went POOF also. You would think with an ex Goldman guy as gov that they would be a little more savvy - then again who's the other side of that trade...
History doesn't give a shit about 2nd place, it's only concerned with the 1st. (example: Most of you know that Kredit Anstalt is given credit for being the cause of the Great Depression, but what was the 2nd pillar to fall?)
As every country is a financial basketcase in one way or another, they are all gonna fall apart most assuredly, but only after the 1st one has sown the way.
Which major country is ripe for the fall?
Juvie,
The only thing more fun than reading that line would be to have created it!
morning everyone
maybe the "old boys network"
or maybe
once goldman sachs,always goldman sachs.
The Brits could balance their budgets by giving the parasitical Queen and her hoard the boot and confiscating that which is rightfully the citizens of UK and the Commonwealth.
From NYT "Windows Opening on the Royal Family’s Wealth": “There is a lot of blurring of the edges about what is actually theirs,” said Ian Davidson, a Labor member of Parliament. “What does the concept of holding in trust for the nation actually mean? There does not seem to be a register of the works they own. They have modernized, but they are still not as open and as transparent as we would wish. They don’t pay tax in the way they should.”
,rad burnside,
Thanks, i've been waiting awhile for the chance to use it.
JD: oh me! me! The UK will lead the way, I've got a friendly bet in place with a friend about it since last fall. Maybe I should be a bookie.
Umm...the local brewery closing?
Hey comrade Nova-you hear the great news from International Paper in Franklin?
They said during the announcement that they had armed guards around because some folks got kinda upset..
1100 direct job cuts..what is the ultimate job loss? 3 external jobs for each job lost? Or is it more?
With the Norfolk Ford plant closed for over 2 years, things are gonna get really interestng around here..
Worse? I think it means the UK never embarked on "recovery" at all. Everyone sort of agreed to pretend that UK was emerging from recession, but the numbers show that they actually did not begin to improve, and in reality got a little sicker.
I am not sure the news has been "processed" fully yet. It may take a little while for the full impact of the realization to set in. When it does, there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
When the queen dies, the next monarch will pay no inheritance tax on her private wealth, as long as she leaves it to that heir
I remember watching the not so pearly whites of the hoi ploy @ Lady Di's funeral, thinking that a dentist could really clean up there...
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Are you Nemo's evil twin?
Omenclature?
rps,
Too much to go into here, but Crown holdings present a long and ongoing history. Suffice it to say Davidson's observation - "They have modernized, but they are still not as open and as transparent as we would wish . . ." - would have applied at any point in that history.
Helpful to recall the starting circumstances, however. The entirety of England could have been described at one time as "Crown holdings".
I bet Scotland is happy they gained independence?
The NYT article is dated 2007. Undoubtedly the parasitical monarchy is draining the turnip citizenry even more. "Britain’s government also pays an annual allowance to the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, for their public work. In the year ended in March 2007, they received $26 million, according to the queen’s most recent annual review of income and expenditures. The royals also receive public subsidies for palace maintenance, public relations and travel costs, which together amounted to about $42 million in the year ended in March. Other government agencies directly paid them about $8 million over the same period for other costs." Doesn't include her useless progeny's expenditures.
BBC NEWS | Europe | Rich Germans demand higher taxes
A group of rich Germans has launched a petition calling for the government to make wealthy people pay higher taxes. The group say they have more money than they need, and the extra revenue could fund economic and social programmes to aid Germany's economic recovery.
Where are the rich Americans saying same and the Obama admin pushing it ?
Undoubtedly the parasitical monarchy is draining the turnip citizenry even more.
At least theirs is out in the open, as opposed to vested Haliburton options.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Have you answer the poll on this topic?
What will they say when we stop buying their BMWs and Mercedes as our recession drags on and on?
Cinco-X wrote:
Surprised that China does to consumer goods they produce what we do to cheese? I'm not. Maybe the gov't can buy it all up and then hand them out free to the needy - like we used to do w/ cheese. I don't think you can eat purses and cell phones though.
Basel Too (profile) wrote on Fri, 10/23/2009 - 9:08 am replyIgnore userthe governor of NJ is the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs. go figure...
He's in supposedly a dead even race for re-election. I hope he loses. There are similar stories across state and local governments around the country. It's what a vampire squid does, after all.
If you'd like to bash home-grown royalty, look no further than whomever is the current occupant of the White House...
The Royals across the pond are wank amateurs when it comes to wasting money on much ado about nothing.
Cinco-X wrote:
Mirror image of 70s-80s stagflation.
I've been poll-free for decades now.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
There fixed it for ya..
Penetrate the evening that the city sleeps to hide...
YouTube - Warren Zevon - Play It All Night Long
rps,
You guys subjected the crown to an unfriendly takeover, did an IPO, let the "founding family" retain stock in the new enterprise, and kept them on as a consultancy in perpetuity. That's the long and short of it. What's your leverage now other than you don't like the terms?
You tied a Windsor knot.
I always understood the UK economy to be much sicker than the U.S. In any event, the GDP number is not a very good gauge IMO of an economy's underlying health, although if you're in the UK you have to be wondering how come all of that spending did not goose a positive number.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
It depends on what you mean by a major country.
But my answer is Russia.
Bearing in mind the fall in mortgage applications, anyone want to take a stab at existing home sales...
Mortgage applications plummet 13.7% - Oct. 21, 2009
Just for fun, the story will be buried I'm sure...
Gotta disagree JD. Queenie owns a number of pirate islands aka tax havens, that drain taxable wealth from the UK, USA..... . Isle of Mann as an example. "The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom or the European Union. It has its own government, its own laws, its own money. But it shares a ruler (Elizabeth II) with the United Kingdom (she is Lord of Mann as well as Queen of the United Kingdom), and the United Kingdom government (turnip citizenry) is responsible for the defence of the island."
HM Queen Elizabeth II holds the title Lord of Man, and is ultimately responsible for the government of the Island, and all legislation passed by Tynwald has to have Royal Assent before being enacted.
TAXATION
Exempt and International LLC’s pay no income tax, but pay a fixed annual fee to the Government.
DOUBLE TAXATION AGREEMENTS
Apart from a limited treaty with the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man is not party to any double tax treaties.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT REQUIREMENTS
there is no requirement to file audited accounts with the authorities
Pirate Islands
,rad rps,
I was thinking more along the lines of pomp & circumstance.
FT.com / Leadership
A video of a 6-minute Gary Becker interview in which he argues that government regulators will always be worse than free markets and offers a "simple" regulatory solution that doesn't rely on regulators to grasp situations - when an institution becomes too big to fail, their capital requirements should automatically increase.
It's mostly hoocoodanode, but still offers some insight into another point of view.
Isle of Mann as an example
Home base of PokerStars.
OT observation - what is the "beat" % of earnings reports this quarter - something >80%? Trying to recall something about systematic bias from econometrics...
Smoke doesn't always mean fire--Whitewater, for example. However, smoke in my teen's dorm room did indicate a high problem--and smoke from banks usually means tax payer bucks are being burned.
LOL
They already did about 3 times now since '91 At one time, they counted, now...not so much I think. Besides China and Russia are busily getting cozy with deals for direct oil lines and such. Then again, I could be ALL WET.
I second rich. Russia.
Or else.
--bh
Stunned by the Capital One results...
Capital One Beats, Finally Profits - Yahoo! Finance
Where are the usual hosers from the Gulag Hockeypelago, today?
Got a frozen treat for you...
Relentlessly OT
still trying to figure out who owns this $20 mil 831 ac spread in Shingle Springs MLS#: 80057300
off to get Coffee
Russia?? Why Russia?
Is CIT actually going to make it?
Report: CIT reaches tentative deal with Goldman - Yahoo! Finance
Green shoots all over.
Heh, trolling the CongressRecord yesterday. Looks like Senate is working on a bill that increases the loan limits the Small Business Association (?) can give out? This is deflationary, right?
Ensuring that small businesses have greater access to capital is the first, and perhaps most critical, step. In hearings, roundtables and other meetings with small business owners and lenders, I have heard time and time again that the current small business loan limits do not adequately meet their needs. To answer their urgent call for help, I am here today to introduce S. 1832, The Small Business Access to Capital Act of 2009. Senate Small Business Committee and Entrepreneurship members Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, along with Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, have joined me as cosponsors of this bill.
...
The bill I am introducing today increases the maximum 7(a) loan from $2 million to $5 million, increases the maximum 504 loan from $1.5 million to $5.5 million, and the maximum microloan from $35,000 to $50,000. These are all provisions that have been championed by my colleague and Ranking Member, Olympia Snowe, in S.1615, the Next Steps for Main Street Act. Additionally, the bill includes a provision to allow businesses to use 504 loan guarantees to refinance existing business debt and allows microloan intermediaries to have greater access to technical assistance grants. The bill also increases the amount that a New Market Venture Capital Company can invest in any one company, helping fast-growing businesses located in areas with chronic underemployment.
*But my answer is Russia. *
Putin and Hu are joined at the hip. Russia will not fall.
BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday met with visiting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, hailing fresh development of bilateral relationship and vowing closer collaboration.
"Russia is one of the top agenda on China's diplomacy as we pay much attention to relations with Russia," Hu told Putin in their half an hour meeting in Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. ..Putin said his China visit was very successful, marking "an important step forward" in bilateral cooperation.
He said close exchanges between leaders of both nations contributed a lot to bilateral relations, which witnessed rapid progress in trade, energy and culture.
Putin said the "Year of Russian Language" went on well in China and looked forward to the "Year of Chinese language" in Russia next year.
During the "Year of Russian Language" in China, the two nations held more than 200 cultural exchange activities in about 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China.
Putin said he was satisfied with Russia's ties with China and would like to advance the relations.
On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao hosted a red-carpet welcome ceremony for Putin, who is on his first official visit to China since taking office in May 2008. They held closed-door talks and witnessed the signing of 12 agreements, including the agreements on natural gas and oil. "
Where was the red carpet for Obama's visit?
dryfly wrote:
Me neither; I posted that for informational purposes, thinking that some of the commentariat might be interested-
'when an institution becomes too big to fail, their capital requirements should automatically increase'. (well put)
Ya think? I don't suppose we can toss my state into that category can we?
hmmm just like a man -
was earlier then thought he'd be this morning >; )
No, but I hear they stocked up on Malt beer and Fried Chicken...
yowza. AMZN up 22%
Russia would be my choice, in that there have been a couple of financial collapses there already in the past coupla decades, past is prologue and such.
The USA is thrown a pillow to kneel on. Obama visits China to beg them to buy our debt aka treasuries.
I'm told that pillows make for excellent silencers...
while the Federal reserve buys the long bonds in eye popping numbers. ugh.
ille_vir wrote:
Sounds like they are just finalizing how much 'go away money' GS can hack off first if [when] CIT goes into BK... prequalifying for their DIP loan [just like buying a house!]...
I love how one time events factor in here:
Cinco-X wrote:
I was... hadn't seen it but had expected it. Go long Dollar General - that is where a lot of that stuff ends up.
energyecon,
to be fair it looks like cranking up customers' APR also had quite a big effect...
plus they may have taken the worst of their stones and got slightly ahead of putting money aside for loan losses.
Time will tell, as in all things...but that is just sucking more lucre out of the plebes, no?
Oh energyecon, I'm afraid they can "improve" the valuation adjustments to retained securitization interests again. And again.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Not sure I've ever paid $10 for a beer in the UK, you need to leave the hotel lobby next trip
dryfly wrote:
Mirror image of 70s-80s stagflation.
Jonathan wrote:
This is partly a function of how densely people are packed together on the small island.
I'm guessing you are a gun owner.....pervasive property crime...sounds very bleak yet I again haven't experienced that. Crime yes but its not quite Baghdad yet
Surprised that China does to consumer goods they produce what we do to cheese? I'm not.
Channel stuffing on a grand scale! Their system must look like a snake that swallowed a Buick. Either way, that baby is coming out one end or the other and it ain't going to be pretty.
heh - here we have the selling on strength, may I suggest the block trades this morning...
Money Flows: Selling on Strength - Markets Data Center - WSJ.com
rps wrote:
hahaha ...well its accepted and looked after in the same way you'd care for an old aunt. I'm enjoying the US Hubris today....
Deflationary Jane wrote:
Probably worn out from yesterday's performance.
rps wrote:
Actually....studies have shown it to be a bit of a wash given the amount of tourism it brings in...If we can throw out our Royal family to save our country what will you guys be able to flog off to feed your unwashed masses in Kalifornia ?
Bulk Christmas Balls which sold for a dollar last year in big box stores can be found for pennies along side the highway nowadays. Surplus must be only thing going in retail, shopping inside is soooo last year, buy it out of a mom and pop van set up at the closed mall. Everyone got toilet tissue for holidays, not?
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
that underlying superiority complex is really hard to hold onto isn;t it...I'm guessing Canadian
w10949 wrote:
Reveller pictured with knickers around her ankles in another shocking scene on the UK's streets of no shame | Mail Online
Nanoo-Nanoo wrote:
Scotland is not independent of the UK, it has a devolved parliament but with limited powers.
Actually....studies have shown it to be a bit of a wash given the amount of tourism it brings in
Undoubtedly funded by the Windsor Foundation.
yowza. AMZN up 22%
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze
w10949 -
If I interpret your handle properly, we're near-perfect contemporaries. If you're indeed from Blighty, do stick around. Frequent correctives required here, and your contributions much appreciated. . .
I apologize for being observant.
It seems perfectly reasonable now that Barnes & Noble have introduced an eBook reader that appears to be better than the Kindle.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
its OK we know you can't help it, we're a very compassionate people since we dropped the colonialism and world policeman role...
burnside wrote:
regular lurker....laughing at the comments on here today...shows how much factual 'interpretation' goes on even on great sites like this.
Methinks that w10949 is Prince Chuck or his toadie
From NYT: "The prince’s spending on official business had risen to about $20 million this year (2007), from $18 million in 2006....“He has been very busy,” Mr. Peat noted, before cataloging a flurry of overseas visits. “He really does care about this country and everyone in it.”
The royals and rich create a large carbon footprint with their private jets, cruise ships, castles, and jet setting all in the name of diplomacy at the turnip citizenry expense. Showing the turnips "you care." How's that useless gesture of using cooking oil working out for your auto?
Perhaps if you're at Stringfellows. Even when the pound was $2 I never paid more than $6.50 for a pint in London, anywhere else it was more like 2 quid.
$10 a beer in a bar is reserved for Scandinavia.
we dropped the colonialism and world policeman role...
"Dropped" how quaint. HAHAHA, try overleveraged and overextended via wars and empire building to the point of bankruptcy. If it wasn't for the USA's intervention and our generosity of debt obligation forgiveness, you'd be speaking German right now. You're military is a joke.
rps wrote:
I'm no apologist for the royals, neutral would be my personal viewpoint. If you need to get to arguing their green credentials as being their downfall then clearly your argument is toast. Is Wall street not your Royal family......
rps wrote:
hahah actually we'd all be speaking Russian but your last sentence tells me all I need to know both with the colour of your neck and the quality of you're(sic) education. I'd rather have a military that turns up in time for a war than consistantly late for the party.
Just ignore the USA intervention and debt forgiveness of WWII, UK bankruptcies, and choose to argue the least important subject..... green frog credentials. You're either a turnip, a handmaiden to the parasitical family, or one of the parasites.
w10949 wrote:
It's because of the "long drive" we have into "work".......
rps wrote:
you only joined WW1 in 1917 and WW2 once you were attacked by the Japanese....you need to brush up on your history. There was ZERO debt forgiveness for WW11. It was finally paid about 5 years ago.
w10949 how do you say bullshit in the UK? Ahem, you are a Revisionist Historian. Read it and weep, from your own BBC:
What's a little debt between friends?
It is hard from a modern viewpoint to appreciate the astronomical costs and economic damage caused by this conflict. In 1945, Britain badly needed money to pay for reconstruction and also to import food for a nation worn down after years of rationing.
"In a nutshell, everything we got from America in World War II was free," says economic historian Professor Mark Harrison, of Warwick University.
"The loan was really to help Britain through the consequences of post-war adjustment, rather than the war itself. ...
Britain had spent a great deal of money at the beginning of the war, under the US cash-and-carry scheme, which saw straight payments for materiel. There was also trading of territory for equipment on terms that have attracted much criticism in the years since. By 1941, Britain was in a parlous financial state and Lend-Lease was eventually introduced.
The post-war loan was part-driven by the Americans' termination of the scheme. Under the programme,* the US had effectively donated equipment for the war effort,* but anything left over in Britain at the end of hostilities and still needed would have to be paid for.
But the price would please a bargain hunter - the US only wanted one-tenth of the production cost of the equipment and would lend the money to pay for it.
As a result, the UK took a loan for $586m (about £145m at 1945 exchange rates), and a further $3,750m line of credit (about £930m at 1945 exchange rates). The loan was to be paid off in 50 annual repayments starting in 1950, although there were six years when payment was deferred because of economic or political crises.
....the terms of the loan were extremely generous, with a fixed interest rate of 2%
...And while the UK dutifully pays off its World War II debts, **those from World War I remain resolutely unpaid. **And are by no means trifling. In 1934, **Britain owed the US $4.4bn of World War I debt **(about £866m at 1934 exchange rates). Adjusted by the Retail Price Index, a typical measure of inflation, £866m would equate to £40bn now, and if adjusted by the growth of GDP, to about £225bn.
"We just sort of gave up around 1932 when the interwar economy was in turmoil, currencies were collapsing," says Prof Harrison.
....So in a time when debt relief for Third World nations is recurrently in the news, the UK still has a slew of unresolved loans from a war that finished 88 years ago
Oh, you English are *so superior, aren't you? Well, would you like to know what you'd be without us, the good ol' U.S. of A. to protect you? I'll tell you. The smallest fucking province in the Russian Empire,*
I thought Paul Krugman told us Britain was doing the right stuff and would be the first out of recession.
Krugman is Bilderberg's Renfield. Dracula couldn't have asked for a more compliant servant