Burkha ban, the weak pound....

[mint]

whatever next?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018797/Burkha-ban-France-boosts-London-shops-Middle-Eastern-tourists-flock-Britain.html

British Coalition Government grasping at straws, I think?  And keeping sterling weak and interest rates low to allow inflation to wipe out the debts of individuals and government.

Don't bank on the exchange rate improving if your income is in sterling, will you?[:(] 

[Quillan]

Not to mention the impact on Sterling that the soon to happen downgrading of the US credit rating (Standard and Poors and Moody's - first change since 1941) will have and that as of a couple of hours ago the US were going to default on their debt because the senate can't agree (remember my comments about the Tea Party), something Greece has managed to avoid although admittedly with some clever 'foot work'. 2nd of August seems to be the crunch date.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Greece are lucky in that other countries are paying for their mistakes.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]Greece are lucky in that other countries are paying for their mistakes.[/quote]

Yes but if American banks had not behaved so badly and been so greedy we may not have all gone in to recession. Don't worry Europe will bail the US out again although indirectly as it is in the end Euros that will be used. China has been buying Euros now for a few years, they will convert them to dollars, at a very good rate, then lend it to the US. At present China is going to lend $1.7 trillion (Americas debt is $11 trillion odd) but the US must learn from Greece and make massive budget cuts in the public sector and increase tax's. If they don't do this by 2nd August (because the senate can't agree) then the US defaults on it's loans, credit rating gets cut and the proverbial hits the fan.

[Mr Ice-ni]

But would it make more sense for China to lend € to the US? It's the old gamble on interest rate differentials vs x-rate at repayment time.

John

[Quillan]

Perhaps China feels luck (perhaps their leader has been at the fortune cookies) and think they will make a killing on top of the interest rate with the exchange rate. Their normally pretty cleaver the old Chinese when it comes to money and how to make it, sort of flies in the eye of communism. Didn't somebody say years ago something like the communists make good capitalists? They downgraded their US credit rating back at the beginning of the year yet the 'experts' said they were stupid, seems they got it right.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

We would have gone into recession anyway, although it probably wouldn't have been so bad.

The US are $14 trillion in debt and this argument between the republicans and democrats is completely ridiculous. I actually agree with the presidents option in this case, although I reckon the biggest cuts they could make is by stopping this war on the other side of the planet, that is probably the biggest expense of all.

Complete waste of money.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]We would have gone into recession anyway, although it probably wouldn't have been so bad.

The US are $14 trillion in debt and this argument between the republicans and democrats is completely ridiculous. I actually agree with the presidents option in this case, although I reckon the biggest cuts they could make is by stopping this war on the other side of the planet, that is probably the biggest expense of all.

Complete waste of money.[/quote]

$14 trillion. I just looked at the yield on the 30 year bond - 4,4%. So, back of an envelope, the annual  interest alone is $616 odd billion. The GDP of all but 17 nations is less than that.