Pay-back time or empty threats?

[mint]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6977152.ece

[Mme poivre]

Jeremy Vine will be talking about this in the next half hour

[mint]

Mme P, am I too late?

Which channel is Jeremy Vine?

[Mme poivre]

radio 2 just started

[mint]

Thanks, Mme P!

[mint]

I'm not going to earn myself any friends here or elsewhere, Mme P, but I don't think that the British government should have compensated people.

It was a private bank and a private business in a foreign country after all.  Bailing out our own banks was one thing (even then I'm not sure they shouldn't have let Northern Rock gone to the wall) but why bail out other people's banks?  Especially as there was no guarantee that we'd be able to get the money back?

If my thinking is completely c o c k-eyed, I'm happy to listen to other points of view.  LOL, what do I know?  I'm just an OAP living in hardly what you'd call the hub of the universe![:)]

[Gardengirl]

I tend to think the same, Sweet. However, a lot of local councils put money with Iceland banks, which would have meant that council tax would have escalated for many people - paying out by another route! Another group which invested in Icelandic banks was charities, I believe; unfortunately people and animals would then also have suffered.

 

[Mme poivre]

I agree with both oof you but... these people putting the money in this place knew it was very high risk - it didn't pay off

that was the risk they willingly took. I think greed had a little bit to play in this.

[mint]

Perhaps not quite greed for some, Mme P, but desperation and certainly ill-judgement also came into play.

GG, I don't think Councils and Charities should be let off the hook.  If the money you invest is not yours but belongs to other people, then it behoves you to choose the best and safest places in which to invest the money and I venture to suggest that perhaps you should have stuck to the tried and tested, government bonds, gilts and so forth in your own country where you know the rules and safeguards.

As is often the case, it's not the feckless and reckless that suffer but the blameless ones and the poor, hapless taxpayer.

[Quillan]

Sort of reminds you of BCCI a bit. People wanting better interest rates and ignoring the risks.

Interesting article but if you didn't know it only mentioned quite a way down in the article that its about Iceland joining the EU where in a way it gives the impression that they are already members and that the UK wants them thrown out because they no longer meet the financial requirements needed to stay in the EU if you get my drift.

The important question of course is does Iceland want to join the EU? The next question is does any of the other EU members actually take much notice of the UK? Does the UK think is has a bigger influence on the EU than it really has?

I believe that local government is given a list of 'recommended' places to invest their money by central government so in a way the government acted as a guarantor for the money. I can't comment on the charities but they may of thought that if its 'recommended' by the government for councils then it must be OK.

[Pommier]

I'd heard somewhere that councils were compelled to invest in institutions from a government list, and that the Iceland banks were AAA rated.

I don't think that the UK government could let the councils and charities take the losses since it was them (or their advisors) who recommended the investments.

Whether the governments financial advisors ought still to be in jobs is another question!

[AnOther]

I never could quite get my head around how a tiny country of slightly over 300,000 and with no industry to speak of could, or was permitted to, husband such vast sums of money. No wonder they had one of the highest standards of living in the world.

Frankly now it begins to smell of a Ponzi scheme and does little to foster confidence in the ratings agencies.

If it sounds too good to be true...................!

Ireland next.

[Chancer]

What peed me off at the time, apart from a very worrying period during which I lost all my life savings, was the amounts that the local authorities had invested in that year alone.

The authority to which I pay council tax had managed to reduce services and raise council taxes whilst simultaneously putting away squillions of our money into Icelandic banks in the main.

Perhaps I am simple but to me the money that I pay should be spent on services.

[mint]

Yes, Chancer, I knew you had money involved and that's why I was careful what I said about "greed".  And, no, I don't think that you or some other investors were greedy; a tad naive perhaps but I only say that with hindsight.

I was delighted for you when it was all resolved, Chancer[:D]

[Quillan]

Talking of Ireland I read, to get the economy it's reduce it's VAT rate to..... 21% [:'(] What the hell was it before [:(]

[mint]

This article on the subject really did make me laugh:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6979915.ece