'Run on UK' sees foreign investors pull $1 trillion out of the City

03/07/09

[TigerLikesRooster]

'Run on UK' sees foreign investors pull $1 trillion out of the City

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/run-on-uk-sees-foreign-investors-pull-1-trillion-out-of-the-city-1639413.html

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[dennisw]

From this article's comments section. What Brits think of this mess

 

So much for the City of London and banking making our living in the future. It was never going to happen and now we're paying the price. We've put too many eggs in the banking basket.

For a nation which was once the "Workshop of the World" it is humiliating. We are now rueing the day we let our once-proud industries fold without a fight.

________

Saturday, 7 March 2009 at 05:25 pm (UTC)

it seems the workshop of the world ran out of customers and could not compete i bet we will need all those lost skills one dayjust like we will need the coal in the mines that maggie flooded drowning bilions of quids worth of equipment. banks don't make anything useful

__________

The current generation of 'City Traders' has destroyed the reputation for acuity and probity established by the previous ten generations. The victory of greed over judgement.
abbalong

___________

All those fees imposed on funds from all that foreign money even before it was traded/invested - Gone!

That translated into salaries and bonuses.

I guess we'll now have to concentrate on getting jobs in which we actually 'do' stuff instead of sitting in front of PCs chatting about last night's telly!

_______________

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yes, Britain as a country can no longer make living by playing the traders of the world.

The idea of having a permanent thriving post-industrial economy based on finance is now pretty much dead.

[jpsb]

"We are now rueing the day we let our once-proud industries fold without a fight."

BUMP!

[dennisw]

Yes, Britain as a country can no longer make living by playing the traders of the world.

The idea of having a permanent thriving post-industrial economy based on finance is now pretty much dead.

Talk about a dead business model! That's a dead national business model

I remember all the propaganda of about 15 years ago. How the United States would be the "back office" for the world. That while the rest of the world would be our stooges and labor away in farms and factories and sell us stuffs real cheap. Like China has. We would do all the deals and financing and clearing for them

Meaning--->>          Americans = superior race of Wall St money geniuses 
                                Rest of the world = dumbass proletarians and farmers

Well, this "back office" turned out to be so greed driven that it committed seppuku and threatens to drag down Americans who do useful labor not to mention hurting people worldwide. UK with its oft bragged about "City" is in a parallel situation

[TigerLikesRooster]

Erstwhile master race(Wall Streeters) now shamelessly begging to serfs(Chicom) for bailout money is actually so funny. They cower under anybody with deeper pockets.

Some master race. They will only earn deep contempt from Chinese.

[dennisw]

Yeah but Chinese have their own unique problems because the mercantilist export driven business model is also kaput. For the time being at least. The people China exports major quantities to (USA Europe Canada) don’t have the money to buy

The best thing China can do is make incentives for coastal immigrant laborers to go back to the farm for a while.

[dennisw]

Erstwhile master race(Wall Streeters) now shamelessly begging to serfs(Chicom) for bailout money is actually so funny.

I remember when Blackstone private equity masters of the universe sold off 10% of firm to the Chinese. Blackstone went public at the top of the market. Its stock is now roughly one tenth of IPO

[dennisw]

Blackstone now actually trading at 1/6 of the IPO

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yes, China's problem is just starting. Current China has to go through radical overhaul now that U.S. consumption engine went dead.

All nasty problems papered over by booming economy will come out in earnest and it will be quite ugly. Chinese elite has succumbed to the illusion that they figured out this capitalist thing. Any country with rapid economic growth from the dirt poor condition tends to have such an illusion. However, it is especially so for China. (1)Their perception that they were master of the universe in the past history which they think would assure such an exceptional success and (2) non-stop fawning press coverage from globalist elites in the West made them easily fall into this trap.

Up to now, they are ecstatic over how far things have gotten better. Now they will find out how little things have improved in many aspects. The realization would be sobering to them.

[dennisw]

(1)Their perception that they were master of the universe in the past history which they think would assure such an exceptional success and 

Wow.. I forgot about that Ming Dynasty, ancient 5,000 year old civilization ego trip. 
Chinese think they are master race
Muslims think they are "the best of people"
Jews are chosen
Wall Street is masters of the universe
It's getting pretty crowded up there!

(2) non-stop fawning press coverage from globalist elites in the West made them easily fall into this trap.

It can go to your head just like our 0bamy (African master of universe) and his Democrats get a free ride

[familyop]

Well, there goes the Empire again.

[familyop]

"Yes, Britain as a country can no longer make living by playing the traders of the world.

The idea of having a permanent thriving post-industrial economy based on finance is now pretty much dead."

You wrote those words of truth well, friend, even though the news from the world is very bad now. Trade does not have to end. Each country has its unique history, excellent abilities and products. We Americans have this opportunity to learn some important strengths from people of the ROK and to relearn some of our own strengths of the past. I hope that we will take the opportunity to do so.

[yankeedame]

I have just finished a book called "Austerity Britain, 1945-1951 (Tales of a New Jerusalem)"

Which, off hand, I don't recommend. It's very long [600+ pages], and very,very detailed which assumes you have a more-than-average knowledge of early post war Britan. IOW, it's a great if you're doing research, but over-kill if you just want to learn about that time.

Instead I would recommend a book I'm about half way through right now, "The Lost Victory: British Dreams, British Realities 1945-1950"

It runs half the length of the above book, and much more "user friendly" to the non-British reader.

Anyway, I digress, both these books are in agreement that by 1870 GB had reached it peak and was on an unmistakable downward slope, and that by 1946 GB was a financial basket case -- thanks in no small part to Socialism and Liberals determination to create a "New Jerusalem".

[familyop]

"Erstwhile master race(Wall Streeters) now shamelessly begging to serfs(Chicom) for bailout money is actually so funny. They cower under anybody with deeper pockets.

Some master race. They will only earn deep contempt from Chinese."

Agreed very much! I hate the systems of communism and fascism, but I respect our enemies. Our US military commanders and politicians should have that respect and prepare to defend our free nations.

[familyop]

"Yeah but Chinese have their own unique problems because the mercantilist export driven business model is also kaput. For the time being at least."

They have the physical means that they need for a smooth transition and resumption of real (physical domestic) GDP increases. A good question might be, "But do they have the guru ability to get their population to go along?" Let's have a quick and sloppy look at some fundamentals.

China

* Enough heavy manufacturing for sustainment: steel, machining, fabrication, assembly, timber reserves (thanks to our monstrous exports of lumber to them), R&D, etc.

* Trading partners with natural resources (Africa, South America, Middle East, others).

* Consumer base and potential future consumers in their trading partners' countries.

* Savings and investments (enormous amounts of US dollars that they can dump).

USA

* Far less heavy manufacturing, some light manufacturing, assembly, aircraft and R&D mostly dependent on foreign sources of materials and engineering. Yes, some Americans own much heavy manufacturing, for the time being--mostly manufacturing that happens elsewhere.

* Trading partners all over the world--mostly cheap exporting producers.

* Natural resources--mostly idle--but not much equipment for harvesting/refining, unwillingness to hire American men (such hiring practice considered to e "misogynist," "Neanderthals" scary).

* Domestic consumer base in debt and probably a great percentage about to be impoverished. ...national diet of hysterical and insulting rhetoric regarding selected/purchased figureheads, celebrities and other notorious villains.



...and a tidbit of news that you might or might not have seen.

China to overtake US as largest manufacturer

By Peter Marsh in London

Financial Times
Published: August 10 2008 22:37 | Last updated: August 10 2008 22:37

Excerpt:
"China is set to overtake the US next year as the world’s largest producer of manufactured goods, four years earlier than expected, as a result of the rapidly weakening US economy."

So there are the negatives from one who tends to look more at possible negative scenarios before possible solutions. Yes...that's me. Given the denials coming from the sponsored media and paying politicos (special interests) along with so many of our economic leaders snagging every illegitimate dollar that they can get from our government and economy in general, my guess is that we're beggin' for a beatin'.

On the other hand, if we were to see more realistic assessments about our national economy, defense, and so on, I would be preaching the "hope." Heh.

[razorback-bert]

Thanks, is it at Amazon?

[Son House]

and that by 1946 GB was a financial basket case — thanks in no small part to Socialism

I see parallels here

[familyop]

By the way, China has one possible weakness that many others have overlooked: lack of properly maintained agricultural real estate in relation to the population. They have purchased some lands in a few other places (some of those places fairly secure), but I wonder if they’ll move to buy much more.