Now It’s The Turn Of The Milcs
According to the Times, the next source of trouble for the Eurozone is the Milcs, or the small countries with overblown banking sectors.
So just when you’ve learned what Piigs means, you’ve now got to work out what Milcs does.
It’s actually Malta, Ireland, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Slovenia.
As Ireland and Cyprus have imploded, they reckon Slovenia is next!
Bitcoin
A Leader in today’s Times has alerted me to Bitcoin. this is a sort of mission statement from their web site.
Bitcoin uses peer to peer technology to operate with no central authority; managing transactions and issuing Bitcoins are carried out collectively by the network. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment systems.
As a software man, I think it could be a good idea.
But according to The Times, it has been a preferred method of payment for drug-related transactions.
They also think is could be another bubble, as does the Telegraph.
But the thought of a peer-to-peer transaction network, unencumbered by credit cards and bank charges has a certain appeal.
I shall be watching, but I don’t think I’ll be using it yet!
In the meantime, ideas like this, are just another reason to get rid of your bank shares.
I’ve Found A Use For Ed Balls
I’ve got rather fed-up with the one-sided reporting on the tax changes, that come into force today. typical is this report on the BBC. The fact that the personal allowance threshold has been raised, is very much buried in the story.
So when it was announced that Ed Balls was going to be on BBC Radio 5 Live at 8:05, I decided that this was an ideal time to walk down the road and get my paper.
The proof of the value of these tax changes will not be in headlines designed to attract readers and votes, but in the amount of tax collected. Having heard Danny Alexander this morning, I think everybody is in for a surprise.
Should We Buy Tea Shares?
The Times today makes a joke on the business pages about builders in wet February and freezing March, sitting around in huts drinking tea.
I must admit my consumption, has been very high in recent months.
So should we put our money where our mouth sups and invest in tea shares?
George Osborne Must Be Getting Paranoid
Those on the Left, blame George Osborne for all the country’s troubles.
So he is under the attack in two major stories this morning.
In the first story, it’s Osborne’s comments about convicted manslaughterer; Mick Philpott.
Mr Osborne said a debate was needed about whether the state should “subsidise lifestyles like that”.
But shadow chancellor Ed Balls condemned Mr Osborne’s comments as “a cynical act of a desperate chancellor”
I have a feeling, that most voters in the UK, except those living on benefits with umpteen children would agree with Osborne. But then those in that group, probably wouldn’t have time to vote.
He is also brought to task, by getting into a car, that was illegally parked in a disabled space. Read about it here. It does appear he wasn’t driving,
But a Treasury source said Mr Osborne had been dropped off to buy lunch.
The unmarked police Land Rover was not driven by the chancellor at any point, added the source.
I bet Osborne wished he’d taken the train. But then, those that want to get him, had a go at him when he did.
He must be getting to dread, saying anything or going anywhere!
It seems as if the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken over from that of Home Secretary, as the most vilified job in Government.
But then Theresa May has a great advantage over George Osborne, in that she can be spun for her dress sense, as she was in this double-page story in the Standard last night. George Osborne never got a headline like this.
Theresa May-nia: sharp-suited, well-heeled, the Home Secretary is on fighting form
Perhaps, he should wear a dress!
The HBOS Three Should Be Banned
This story on the BBC’s web site, says that the Banking Standards Committee has recommended that three at the top of HBOS, should be banned from working in the City, after the failure of the bank in 2008.
I agree, as not only did they ruin HBOS, but they ruined Lloyds as well and not forgetting all of the small shareholders and businesses they damaged.
As with RBS, HBOS should have been allowed to go bust.
We’d all be in a much better state, if they had!
The True Cost Of My €100 Withdrawal
I withdrew €100 from a cashpoint in Bishopsgate before I went on holiday.
I got a rate of 1.157 euro to the pound, which for my € 100 worked out at £86.42. I was then charged a Non-UK commission fee of £1.72 and a Non-UK cash withdrawal fee of £1.00. The main transaction incidentally was labelled Ulster Bank.
So as I was in Bishopsgate and did a transaction with a bank in Ulster, surely I was in the UK. So why did I get slapped for an extra charge of £2.72?
On the other hand it was probably a better transaction, than I got in Morocco, when I changed a few pounds into the local dirham.
If I was in charge of this world, I’d create a universal token, that was worth about a pound, a dollar or a euro, that you could use for small transactions on public transport, pay toilets and with street vendors. After all, many machines now accept a one pound or one euro coin.
Getting Euros In The City Of London On Sunday
I’m going on a cruise tomorrow and thought I’d get some euros, as we’re calling at Corunna, Casablanca, Cadiz, Gibraltar and Lisbon.
I did try yesterday to get s0me at the Angel yesterday, but banks don’t seem to keep them. So I took a bus this morning to Bishopsgate to this Euro Cashpoint under Tower42.
NatWest’s Euro Cashpoint On Bishopsgate
It was a lot less painless than going into and collecting some, as I’m rather allergic to queues.
I’m not sure how much the euros cost yet! But I only needed a few, and I suspect the boat might be a lot more expensive.
David’s Golden Rules And Cyprus
I’ve mentioned my late friend and bank manager, David’s rules before, so how would they apply to the Cyprus bail-out and the problems it has created.
Things have changed since he died six years ago, but the two principles he gave me still apply.
If you a UK citizen or resident, he would never have advised anybody to use a bank that was head-quartered outside of the UK, as you don’t know what external factors will apply in that country.
The second principle, was never to bank with a small bank, that has the possibility of being taken over by a man with a large ego for his own purposes. He said this, when I got an offer from Bank of Scotland, in probably the 1990s. I know that they didn’t have the Fred the Shred problem, but he felt that given the changes that would happen in banking, it might be something I would regret.
Incidentally, he was not against smaller building societies and credit unions, and once told me that he believed the latter would be strong in the future. He was wrong on that, but I think he underestimated the conservatism of the average bank account customer, who are reluctant to change banks.
So if we look at the last few years, his rules would have ruled out banking with the Icelandics, RBS and probably Bank of Scotland too!
I didn’t bank with any of them!
So what would he have thought about Cyprus. He would probably have had a very juicy tale about one of the Cypriot Banks ans of course they do break both golden rules, in that they aren’t in the UK and are two small. They may be OK, if you need a local bank account, but these days, with electronic transfers, you could probably manage it all through the Internet. I don’t know for sure, as I’ve only ever been to Cyprus as a tourist for enjoyment. Nothing in the world, would encourage me to live outside of the UK anyway!
But making account holders in Cyprus take a haircut is something, that will happen elsewhere in the eurozone, as the precedent has now been set.
In fact, if I was George Osborne, I might be having a quiet chuckle, as the Cyprus haircut, might be one of the better things that happen to the UK financially this year. Will those, EU citizens with a dodgy banking system in their country, look even more seriously at the UK as a more benign place to live?
I think too, we’ll see more innovative financial products coming out of the City of London, designed to appeal to those with money in other parts of the European Union. If you’re very rich, these products already exist, but will we see products for say the German engineer or doctor of comfortable means, who wants his money safe, to work for him and give him a comfortable retirement.
Bank Customers To Share Pain Of Cyprus Bail-Out
The Eurozone and the IMF have agreed a deal to bail out Cyprus to the tune of €10 billion, as is reported here on the BBC.
What is different though in this bail-out, is that bank depositors will also have to take some of the pain. The comment from the BBC correspondent; Andrew Walker is as follows.
It has been a long and difficult negotiation, partly because of the reluctance of other Eurozone countries to use taxpayers’ money to help foreign customers of Cypriot banks. Many of them are wealthy Russians.
There are concerns around Europe about whether all that money was legitimately acquired and also about how effective Cyprus is in dealing with money laundering.
The deal involves a levy on bank deposits intended to ensure those investors contribute to the bailout. But it will apply to all deposits – at a higher rate on amounts above 100,000 euros.
I’m personally not that sorry, that laundered money will be effectively taxed, but it does strike me, that this crisis could get a lot bigger, if the Russians get annoyed.
The Anonymous Widower 