Independent Living Fight Back.......Protest to Save the Independent Living Fund.

On 12th May, a spirited protest took place at Department of Work & Pensions head office in Westminster, London against the abolishment of the Independent Living Fund. A fund to support severely disabled people.This fund is being abolished as a result of the bank bailouts and the rapid accumulation of national debt as a result. Though it has to be said that it is unlikely that the austerity measures will make any difference to the problem which was the reason behind the austerity. There are still no signs of the national debt ever reducing. The government is living off a fairy tale ending that is just never going to happen! There is inevitably going to be a plan B at some point, which will be after the passing of the current governments. Who ever takes on the leadership role will inherit the national debt problem we have today. It will probably be much worse.But, by then there will be many who will have paid an unnecessarily high price for those failed austerity measures!

The protest began at 3 pm on the afternoon of 12th May 2014.
To start with it began with an attempt to communicate with the people inside the building in order to get a perspective from those who were given the job of carrying out the governments orders. This involved the use of a megaphone and a public announcement system. This equipment was used to communicate the feelings of the many disabled people who were going to lose out as a result of these cuts. Whilst each of the different people took their turn to express their views, they went about this in a polite manner with no bad language.

But to every ones disappointment, the required response never happened. At around 4 pm the group split up to block two exits. A police bus arrived to reinforce the police who had been at the protest from the beginning. Staff began emerging from a fire exit. They were offered leaflets on importance of the ILF. Of around 200 staff, I saw one female member take a leaflet. She thanked the disabled protester who was in a wheel chair for the leaflet. The only other time I think some one from in the building actually spoke had come out for some fresh air.  

Videos of the whole protest were taken. I fear that some one is trying to get them all sensored!

The fight goes on...









So what is the ILF?




As part of the austerity measures, the U.K. government is closing the Independent Living Fund in 2015. The Independent Living Fund helps severely disabled people by supporting them in a way that allows them to live independently.

Disabled people are able to learn, work, volunteer, play and live in a way that makes them full members of the surrounding community.

The government had been taken to court on the grounds that the decision to close the ILF would cause undue suffering to those affected. The government lost the case, but are still pursuing the closure of the fund in 2015.

18000 disabled people claim from the ILF.

One third of these people have severe learning difficulties.

The case for this cut by the government is driven by the austerity measures which are being inflicted on the whole of the U.K.


The protest was organised by "Disabled People Against Cuts"...DPAC.

"'Bin British Gas!" Protest at AGM....Bin Them All...Renationalise The Energy Industry!

Before the privatisation of the energy sector, investment in energy was on a long term scale. This investment was initially paid with tax payers money.

When the industry was privatised, there was a reduction in tax payers money going into energy production.

The new private companies who bought the public assets originally owned by the tax payer have then used them to generate profits for them selves. All though there is a lot spin and regular use of the words entrepeneurs, what this selling off of government run services is being promoted to voters by the government, actually is, is not colossally different from a landlord buying a property that you own, and then letting you continue to live in that property whilst you pay rent to the landlord there after. Only you have no control of the cost of that rent!

Over recent years, the demands of the private companies have risen. At the same time, they have been unable or unwilling to invest enough of their profits in future development.

We now have a situation where the U.K.'s energy surplus has been reduced to just 4% when in the past, regulators had recommended a surplus of atleast 25%.

In the past few months, private energy companies have begun to threaten the public that if there are any restrictions on profits, then we can expect to see power cuts within the next year from now.
-This is a threat by the private energy companies, which if carried out, will mean suffering and ultimately loss of life. Suffering and a loss of life to people who have been paying their bills in the past years and providing the colossal wages and bonuses for the executives of these companies.

Even if we were to continue to ignore their greed and let them continue to charge the earth for their so called 'services',do you think they would begin to invest in new energy at the rate that is required?

The reason we are in this situation is because there has been a lack of investment in this industry since the day it was privatised.

BIN BRITISH GAS PROTEST 12 MAY 2014

Unless we take control of this industry, that is just not going to change.

The only answer is to re-nationalise.

To add to this case for renationalisation........

British Gas has shown a reduction in profits of 6% in the latest available accounts....But there are some facts which you need to bare in mind when analysing their figures. British Gas owner Centrica is both a whole sale supplier of energy as well as a retailer of energy. So British Gas profits will be reduced if for example the Centrica business supplying British Gas was to increase it's price as a wholesaler to British Gas. The point is, although British Gas profit is down 6% , the profits for the Centrica group which includes British Gas has only reduced by around 1.5% over the same period......a fall in profit from £2.74 Billion to £2.7 Billion.

Basically, their profits certainly don't show much justification for a 9% hike in energy charges. An increase which they had promised some time ago but had to reduce as so many customers were leaving for competing energy providers.

The final case for renationalising the energy sector is because it's a complete and utter government manufactured farce!

 The U.K. public is being ripped off.

There are 33 companies listed under 'Which Switch' as U.K. energy providers!

-But really!....are they all energy providers?! Well of course they are not. Sinsbury's Energy is actually selling energy provided by British Gas. M&S, Airtricity and Atlantic all listed as suppliers but are selling electricity for SSE. It's a similar story as you go down the list of thirty three companies.

Needless to say, the public are paying executives and sales staff to all these non-providers of energy so they can pass it straight to the customer.

How does the customer benefit from this nonsense?

But going back to the rising energy prices which we are told by the executives of the energy firms and OFGEM, is down to the wholesale price of energy; How is it that British Gas can supply customers of Sainsbury's energy, and Sainsbury's Energy are still able to compete with British Gas?
 In a genuine competitive market, this surely would not be possible!

Couldn't really avoid this bit of additional nonsense......EBICO........is one of the listed suppliers......"The only 'not for profit' energy company."

It probably gets lots of customers because of this statement. It may well be true, that it doesn't make a profit. But then it doesn't 'make' energy either. It sells energy provided by SSE. Who you can be sure are making a profit from the price that EBICO is paying them.

My final case for renationalising energy is that in 2007, British Gas was almost sold to GAZPROM, Russia's biggest gas company. As a government, you just don't know how good your relationship, with another nations government will be in the future. How could that affect energy that is being provided by a business owned by a nation you may have formed some differences with?


All pictures from "Bin British Gas" Protest, run by Fuel Poverty Action. 
Westminster, London. May 12 2014.
Protest against poverty caused by rising energy prices, fracking and the lack of investment into renewable energy. 

- For a more in depth look into privatisation see other posts in X-ECONOMICS by putting PRIVATISATION in search box at top left!

May Day Protests 2014....Socialism Very Much Alive....But Where is the Main Stream Media?

On May 1st 2014 activists, protesters and Union members took to the streets to protest against many of the problems going on today. Austerity, Corruption, War, poverty, destruction of public services by governments. Unions were there to protect the workers rights and pension funds as well as some of the other issues mentioned.

But what was most apparent at this protest was the support of Socialism........

Socialist supporters from all parts of the world, many of which were fighting the government of their country for a real democracy and in others, were defending their own socialist government which is being subjected to a torrent of abuse by capitalist backed propaganda campaigns.

Which countries am talking about?.......It doesn't matter, because where ever you go in the world, it doesn't matter where, there are capitalists using corrupt means to brain wash the public, into supporting capitalism.

Thousands of people were here in London, one of the two most capitalist cities in the world to tell the world that there is another way...........



...................But where were the media?  


To some of the younger people there, they may have thought that this was not reported to any degree in the main stream media because it was of little relevance....But this is just part of the brain washing process.













Socialism is very much alive.......






 Can the May Day Protests really make a difference?....

The Unions....
A large proportion of the protesters who marched from Clerkenwell Green to Trafalgar Square comprised of the Unions and there members. It has to be said that they put on a great show with masses of colourful banners largely promoting their own unions. Many also combining their Union logos with statements and logos that showed support for;

Socialism

 Defence of workers rights

Pension funds

Abolishment of 'zero hours' contracts.

The People....

                 Many more people were not members of unions..........For many of these, the reason was they had no job! There were many unemployed, disabled and working people suffering under the austerity of the government. These people did not seem to be                                                                       being represented by the unions.....

                                                             

May be there is a need  for a union which includes every one.
 ............ The Disabled........Unemployed..............Bankers......Postal workers.....................     Nurses..........politicians...............journalists...........teachers......Civil Servants.........Fork lift truck drivers...........students.......police officers............

Funding would be on a voluntary basis depending on affordability.

........................The U.K. Solidarity Union.........................?

UK BUDGET 2014 ; Is it really a budget for "the savers, makers and the doers" ?.........or is it really a budget to increase stock market activity and... investment into corporate and government bonds?

I'm certainly not going to bother repeating the details of the budget last week which I feel was very much a non event. With the austerity that is being inflicted on the U.K., the job losses in public services, the reductions of payments to genuinely ill and disabled people, along with the dismantling of the NHS, I find it insulting for the government to believe that we will accept the announcements made this week, as portraying a full picture of the governments financial objectives for the near future.

Increasing of the minimum income tax threshold is good news for working people, but due to other factors which the government has allowed to go out of control, any tax benefits provided are likely to be wiped out immediately by other rising costs which the government constantly talks about, but repeatedly fails in actually taking any necessary action. These costs involve the rising costs of rent to private landlords, rising energy prices due to exploitation by private companies and the rising costs of credit services throughout the financial industry from the credit card companies to the pay day loan companies.

What appears to have taken centre stage was the changes to ISAs. It is true that they have not been giving very good returns lately. But the fact is, the priority that these changes have been given by the Chancellor probably has as much to do with vested interests in the finance industry as it does with allowing savers to invest more money in a tax free investment......

Money invested in ISAs is invested in the stock markets to buy stocks and shares of businesses, to buy government bonds and other financial products. This is regardless of whether the money is invested in a cash ISA or a Stocks & shares ISA. The difference is that the cash ISA uses a fixed interest rate to generate the return where as a Stocks and Shares ISA is directly invested in Stocks and shares and will be directly affected by rises and falls in prices of stocks and shares. Cash ISAs pay less in general, but this also means you should never actually lose any of your investment. The term Cash or Investment ISA is slightly misleading. The money will still be invested regardless of which ISA you choose.

The problem is, what I am about to say is not going to make much sense to a lot of people who are receiving less than 1.65% return on their ISAs...........Stock market activity has now increased to pre-financial crisis levels. The buyout industry has also taken off and is also now at levels prior to the crisis. All of this involves the use of invested cash. Billlions and billions of dollars worth of it........But people providing that cash are not currently being rewarded. The new rules which allow more money to be put into ISAs is not going to make a great difference because returns till now have continued to fall. Any real benefits will only begin when the interest rates eventually rise.

The fact is that whilst some relatively wealthy savers may benefit from these changes all be it in a small way, I feel the biggest winners will be the stock markets as the press and media over the last few days has been giving free advertising for the banks in the use of ISAs. More people will no doubt be using them over the next months. Money invested will accelerate even beyond their use which has already been increasing rapidly over the last few years.

But there are a few other issues concerned with investments in ISAs.....

1......Investments in ISAs has been rapidly increasing over recent years. This may well mean that the stock markets have been benefitting from an increasing amount of cash being made available and also the government will have benefited from additional available cash to buy up their government bonds!.........Cash which would not have been available if the savers had invested their money in property for example! ISAs have probably contributed to the very slow recovery of the house buying market over the last few years. Also to the construction industry who may have been building more of those houses had there been the finance provided to pay for them. ISAs it seem have given the banks an excuse to abandon the housing market in favour of the easier returns provided by gambling on the stock markets.......
.......So are ISAs causing a bubbles in the stock markets? ...
.......Are ISAs discriminating against more ethical, job creating investments?!....

2......We know a few people have been warning about a house price bubble which is developing mostly in the South East of  England which many people have blamed the 'Help to Buy Scheme' for contributing to.......
.......But what has not been mentioned by the new governor of the Bank of England, is that there is no doubt  bubbles being created in the stock markets. Various assets have been sold off at what seem to be optimistic prices and there are now queues of businesses waiting for their IPOs (Initial public Offering) onto the stock markets.......... Also investments in corporate bonds makes it to easy for a business to get into vast amounts of debt which will not be an apparent problem until the bonds reach maturity. In that time the business and the market it competes in could have changed drastically and it may be that the business will not be able to pay off it's debts on bonds when they reach 'maturity'...'Maturity' being the date when the loan has to be paid back in full. This will of course affect people with ISAs invested in those companies.

3......Savers with ISAs are hoping for a rise in the interest rates being paid to them on their investments. Unfortunately businesses who start paying higher interest rates on debt which has been taken on whilst the interest rates are low will be affected when the interest rates rise....The cost of many of these businesses will rise substantially.....Much debt has been taken on by private equity companies and hedge funds and by corporations for the pure reason that the interest rates were attractive. It has generated business for the investment banks and the stock markets. Lots of money has changed hands on completion of deals. Bonuses have been paid out...............But what happens next remains to be seen......

May be we need in addition to the Cash ISA and the Stocks & Shares ISA,  an "Ethical, Sustainable Development Isa"...

......An ISA that is only invested in products and services that provide for the needs of the people which would of course include housing......... ..I don't think the bankers and politicians would choose this kind of ISA. But I think many of the savers would choose it if they were given the chance......... Going by recent interest rates there wouldn't be much to lose.......But there may be a whole lot more to gain than may be a possible a 4 % on their investment........An investment that may work towards an economy that the working people can provide the shortfall in the savings of the elderly................ An investment that would divert money away from the irresponsible lending of money through corporate bonds and private equity and corporate buyout bubbles!

Black Rock; An 'Asset Manager' Creating a Black Hole in the World's Financial System.....Deciding the Destination of $15 Trillion of Investors Cash!

Black Rock is an Asset Management Company that is the world's biggest investor.

It has $4.1 Trillion of assets under management.

It is bigger than any bank in the world.
It is the biggest share holder in half of the world's 30 largest companies.
It also invests in bonds, commodities, hedge funds, property and any thing else investable.
This is a bigger portfolio than all the world's hedge funds and private equity firms combined, whilst the assets of Black Rock actually include many of those hedge funds and private equity firms.

But the decisions on how the invested money of Black Rock is used is not decided by people, but by a piece of computer software known as 'Aladdin'. This software not only decides how their $4.1 Trillion is invested but also an other $11 Trillion of investment held under management by competing Asset Managers! Black Rock hire out the services of Aladdin to other businesses.

So what are the problems with this?

1.......Moral Investment...
Aladdin is a computer program which is doing the "thinking" for Black Rock, the other asset management firms it is being contracted out to, and all their investors combined.
-But....As any investment business should have,- There should  be a responsibility to any one else who may be effected by the investments that Black Rock and any one who makes investments based on the judgement of Aladdin.-In other words Aladdin should have a conscious that would prevent it investing money in ways that may have a detrimental effect on those not involved or linked in any way with Aladdin and Black Rock! .......................................................................................................................
This may seem a slightly optimistic idea to some, as it is fairly clear that from events in the financial world over the past years have proved that to expect investment bankers, traders, hedge funds etc to have a consciousness with regard to others is asking too much., let alone a computer system and software that had been designed with these same people in mind!
-I think we can there fore take it that Aladdin has no responsibility to the economics out side of the people that Aladdin is actually working for .................
If you know different, please explain how this works and I will share it with the world!.....If you have a genuine logical explanation?!

2.........Manipulation of Markets...
-Manipulation of markets.- That is to take action that will give an unfair advantage is illegal............But Black Rock deals with so much cash that it has a vast influence on the markets. It has the ability to cause a crash in a commodity price or a share price in a big company, just by actions it decides to take. As Black Rock grows, which it is doing so now at around an increase of 10% a year, investment businesses out side of the umbrella Black Rock and Aladdin are going to have to think less about market prices and more about what Aladdin is going to be doing next. Whether these competing businesses can be successful or not will depend on whether it can keep ahead of the thinking of Aladdin, or at least be that close behind it  that losses incurred are not so great that they cause major problems for these smaller disadvantaged investment schemes.

3...Who ever is in control of Aladdin has been given too much power.  ..........................................................................................................................................

4..The rate that Black Rock and Aladdin are sucking in investment means that it doesn't need to make good investments in order to payout returns on investments.

'Technical issues' regarding 'sensitivity' are currently delaying the completion of this post! 

South American Socialist Politics at war with Corrupted Media Journalism.

Whilst in Europe, we are told by the majority of the media that regardless of all the problems;- the economic crisis, the austerity measures since, the suffering that those austerity measures are causing, and it has to be said, the loss of life which cuts have caused as medical services and other vital services have been cut.

This has been caused by capitalist policies which much of the media still defend. Many media organisations and news papers still give support to the stock markets and give them free publicity even though they without question are continuing to make the economic problems we have worse.

In the United States, the situation is even worse. In Europe, at least leaders like Angela Merkel have the desire to take more control of the financial markets with more regulations. This has been made clear to George Osborne and David Cameron. But the British leaders constantly fight off any new regulations. This makes it difficult for the European Union to move forward on this issue. The U.S. makes their own decisions and is not influenced by any one.

But these differences between the U.K., Europe and the United States only concern the way in which capitalism is allowed to operate. On the whole, we are still led to believe that there is no alternative other than capitalism, by press, media and also education!

In South America however, things are different. The same forces exist which influence many South American people to support capitalism but many people in South America believe there is an alternative. 

It's time for us to look at what has been going on in South America. Also to understand why much of what is going on in South America has been ignored or manipulated by primarily, U.S. media but also the British Media. 

So here's some back ground into what has been happening in South America. If you don't know this.....You should may be ask yourself ....."Why don't I know this?"

Venezuela.....The Bolivarian Revolution

Unrest in Venezuela was contributed to by the IMF who enforced austerity on the Venezuelan people.

In 1992, inspired by Simon Bolivar, who liberated Venezuela from Spain in the 19th century, Hugo Chavez, then a soldier organised a coup against the corrupt, capitalist government of Venezuela.

Ten battalions, consisting of 1000 soldiers attempted to over throw the government. But the capture of Caracus, the capital failed.

After the failed coup attempt, he apologized to the people for the failure saying, "I take responsibility." But made clear the battle was not over. He then said, "This movement is going to knock down the rotten structures of this system."

Many years later, in 1998 Chavez won a majority vote in a an election. At the time the country had 80% of the people in poverty. He said, "I offer the structural transformation that people demand - To transform the political system. -Reforms of social character."

Here is what he said after being elected leader......

"I will free Venezuela from the New form of domination, -that of the free market policy that had been imposed on Venezuela by Washington."
"In the sixty's they gave out land but no loans or technical support. So what happened to the campesinos? The oil wealth never reached the campesino!................That can not happen again.....This is one of the principles enshrined in the revolutionary and Bolivarian constitution. But for this to work people need to get organised."


Ever since this day, private media companies in Venezuela and out side of Venezuela have been giving the Socialist government a tough time. There is no doubt that a lot of the influence is due to the corporations losing the control they had and were using their financial power to create propaganda that would finally remove the socialist government. (This still goes on today even after the death of Hugo Chavez).

On 11th April 2002, a coup was organised by the capitalist opposition to remove the socialist Chavez government from power. They succeeded temporarily, but Hugo Chavez was rescued by his own people and was back in power within 48 hours of the coup.

- Even though Chavez was jailed for his own coup attempt, years later he released the capitalist opposition who removed him temporarily from power, so that they would be allowed to oppose the socialist government in future elections! .......Yet the opposition party, private media and U.S. government still call this government a dictatorship!

So...What is it about the politics of Hugo Chavez that the Capitalists and most of the media appear not to like?
What is quite interesting about this is that if you watch TV coverage by the main stream media companies in Venezuela, the United States and Europe, -when dealing with issues to do with Venezuelas government, there is little information given to the public on what the policies of the government actually are! Generally it comes to a barage of personal abuse directed at his inteligence, or ridiculing of socialists or leftys. This implies that Chavez was not only a buffoon,but any one who had or has any similar ideas about how to run a country was also stupid or had issues regarding their mental stability..........In short......To all who may be watching.....Capitalism is the only way, so don't get any other ideas.............

So then.....The Venezuelan Socialist Government Policies.......

 These are the policies Hugo Chavez put into motion in a short after becoming president...

As well as renationalising the privately owned oil company which had been siphoning off the profits away from those 80% of the Venezuelan people who remained in poverty.......Despite Venezuela being the 4th largest oil producer in the world at the time!  Control of other privatised services was achieved and he took back control of Venezuelas biggest Bank.

Also...

1...........An increase in the minimum wage.
2...........Augmenting of teachers and doctors pay.
3...........Set up of a micro-credit programs.
4...........Formed a women's Bank.
5...........In 2001 there was a redistribution of land to the poorest farmers.
6...........There was a hand out of building materials and poor people were given land to build a home on.
7...........Troops have been repairing roads and painting apartment buildings when not required for military duties.
8..........The rights to fishing Venezuelas waters had been 'sold off'' to multinational companies by the previous capitalist government........Chavez took back those rights and gave local fisherman a right to make a living from their livelihood. Profits from fishing in Venezuela's waters now contribute more to the Venezuelan economy as over many capitalists/investors have been removed from the payroll of the industry. This also meant that fish became more affordable to the Venezuelan people.
9..........'Mission Guaicaipuro'..........A policy that aimed to protect indigenous peoples' livelihood, religion, culture and rights.......
10........An over haul of education and training. ...Chavez launched a number of 'missions' through 'active participation of the citizenry'.........
Mission 'Robinson' taught reading and basic numeracy. In 2003, one million Venezuelans were taught to read and write.
Mission 'Ribas' enrolled more than one million students who had previously been excluded from education.
Mission 'Sucre' is a Scholarship program for university education.
Mission 'Vuelvan Caras' provides vocational training for work.
11........Free health care for all Venezuelans, regardless of income was of major importance to Chavez. Mission Barrio Adentro was a scheme to provide health care to the poor who lived in the shanty shacks of the Barrios. Twenty thousand doctors, dentists and auxilliary staff came from cuba to provide the care in a deal which provided cheap oil to cuba.
12........Out side of Venezuela, Chavez also wanted to have a positive effect. Offering cheap oil to many of Venezuela's South American neighbours. Many of the Chavez policies have been taken on by governments across South America as they have deserted the capitalist regime which we have here in the U.K. and the United States for the kind of policies you see above.

So this is it......The policies that the United States doesn't like. From these policies the U.S. government have constantly referred to Chavez and the socialist government in general  as incompetent. The socialist government have been accused of being dictators. (Telling the private sector what to do.....is not dictatorship if it is what the voting majority wanted).

So why does the U.S. government continue to accuse this socialist government of being a dictatorship. Well one reason is probably to do with Venezuela's oil. If it was privately owned, the oil could be bought by the U.S. and feed profits to a capitalist system which may well involve U.S. financial businesses like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan. One way of getting the oil privatised again would be to get the current government removed and put a capitalist leader back in charge. However, if this was the only reason, it would not justify the lengths that capitalists (with finance from the U.S. government) have gone to. 

This not just about a capitalist country that wants to exploit another country for it's oil. It's a capitalism / Socialism war. Few details of the policies of the socialist government of Venezuela have been broadcast on main stream television in the U.S. or the U.K. The reason behind the propaganda from capitalist sources being served up by all of Venezuela's private TC channels, as well as the BBC, CNN, FOX, etc, on the "DICTATORSHIP IN VENEZUELA"  is because this kind of government does not only pose a threat to the capitalist opposition party of Venezuela, but also to capitalism in general throughout the world........If socialism was to become popular throughout the world, which it is doing so across South America, despite the media cover up by the press and TV companies, the people who would have the most to lose would be those who rely most on capitalism. The U.K. and the U.S. have more capitalist type businesses as a proportion of their population than any one else in the world. Many private companies running services which could be renationalised if a socialist revolution took place around the world would be at risk and so would debt that they may owe to banks who may have lent that debt irresponsibly.

My conclusion is therefore that a capitalist propaganda campaign which has been going on for more than a decade is primarily to keep the capitalist financing system/ stock market system intact. 

Additional evidence to this is the way the U.S. government treats other socialist governments in South America such as Cuba. It's no wonder Chavez wanted to form a South American union! 

There has to be something very wrong with a system that is at risk from collapsing from mere democracy.
Viva Venezuela!
Viva the Socialists every where!

A documentary film was made about Hugo Chavez a few years back....Whilst it was being made he was removed by a coup by capitalists. He was rescued and reinstated as president within 48 hours. The film that was made has now been renamed....."The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
I'm sure it could be a block buster film but many organisations have tried to prevent it's distribution. This includes a trading standards regulator in the U.K. You can get it from the Venezuelan Solidarity Campaign. There is also a book about the making of the film,"Chavez:the revolution will not be televised; A case study of Politics and the Media."    .....The film you really must see. It will open your eyes to what is really going on in the world!

    

Yet More Hypocrisy from the U.K. Chancellor.....'Pay Day Loan' Firms to Face Interest Rate Restrictions in New 'Banking Reform Bill'.

It's five years since the beginning of the financial crisis yet we are still having to listen to politicians talking about new 'banking reform bills' to be brought in. Makes you think, 'What the hell have they been doing up until now?'

A month ago parliament discussed bringing in a new interest rate cap for high street 'Pay day loan' anbd money shops, etc. But then backed out of it. It is now back on again as part of apparently a new 'Banking Reform Bill'. So when a cap is likely to actually go into effect is any one's guess. Unfortunately there are a few things clouding the issue for George Osborne, which is for sure delaying any necessary actions......

To start with, these loan shops don't collect savings deposits, so they are taking investment from financial institutions and borrowing money from the big banks for their needs. The loan shops are now big business for the banks. If you think that George Osborne is going to make the banks lose out on business at the expense of a million poor people, you probably need to look a bit more deeply into Tory policies and the way the lobbying system works.

High streets of most towns are littered with these eye sores. Any new major regulations could see some of them closing. But I just don't see the new regulations being stringent enough to do this. A month ago there was all kinds of talk about how the costs of borrowing would be reduced , but then at the last minute, George Osborne backed out of the interest rate cap issue............

We don't hear much about the problems these businesses cause, but that is obviously because they are under protection of the finance industry. This means the media doesn't give them too much of a tough time. The media generally doesn't go into much detail on the effects the financial system is having on individual people. You can find the reasons for this in other posts in X-ECONOMICS.

The fact is that when people use these loan shops, other out standing debts they may have for example on credit cards becomes a much higher risk. If some one borrows some money  from a loan shop because they are near their credit card limit before Christmas and then struggles to pay that money back the problems on all those debts escalate. Before long, bankruptcy may seem the easiest way out. This happens to many people and is costing us all a fortune. This is because that people defaulting on credit is more of a problem for the public than the finance industry, as the finance industry simply removes the risks of these debts from themselves onto investments which they sell. Pension funds get hit hard by this. It is an abuse of savers by the banking industry. An abuse, that unless people spread the word, many will be unaware of what is happening to their pension fund whilst they pay into it every week..........
.................If it wasn't for this unloading of risk by the financial system, we wouldn't have our high streets littered with money shops and pay day loan shops!

If the financial system had to pay for the economic problems these high interest lenders cause, we wouldn't be in this situation. The lenders wouldn't exist. If in any doubt about this, may be you should compare the return you are receiving on your pension, as compared with a top banker's wages and bonuses!
......................Now it's all beginning to make sense, isn't it..?... !....

Whilst George Osborne beats around the bush on whether to enforce a new interest rate cap on pay day loans, the bank of England still claims that the Bank of England base interest rate being kept low is to help the economy.........?

Slightly sceptical about this to say the least............-For the reason that, if the government really cared about the economy, they would have restricted the interest rates on pay day loans long ago....-You see, the governments policies just don't add up..........Low base interest rates are not to help the ordinary people. They are due to a vested interest of the government.

Helping let's say, middle income people with their mortgages, whilst at the same time letting slightly less well off people be crucified by unregulated landlords who have no restrictions on the rent they charge (....and no restrictions on pay day loan companies they may use!) seems hypocritical. The fact is there are other reasons why the base rate is kept low, and it nothing to do with ordinary people. It's all to do with the financial industry and stock markets. For example preventing corporations involved in buyouts from collapsing under irresponsible debts and conveniently keeping down the national debt interest rate low!

................This is evidence that the government policies on the whole are based on the success of the stock markets and finance industry as opposed to the ordinary people. Irrespective of their claims.............. But what is most annoying is those supposedly clever people on the BBC will never expose the gaping holes in the logic and claims of the government, whilst they obviously continue to mislead the majority of the public!
.