Monday, March 31, 2008
Mortgage Companies Cause House Price Rises?
I was listening to Radio 4 the other day, to some political gameshow, and managed to catch this bit of Wisdom from Gryff Rhys-Jones (sp?). Basically, his theory is that the rocketting of house prices over the last few years is because of the mortgage have been so willing to lend money, and that is also the very same reason why we now have the "credit crunch".The thinking goes like this: people will generally pay whatever they can to get their own decent home; if they can get a mortgage for the amount, they will do, and until recently mortgage companies have been more than willing to lend.
So people have been taking out the biggest mortgages they can in order to get a nice house. And so the sellers have been increasing their prices, because people are paying those prices. No-one in their right mind would sell a house for the price it was 5 years ago - that would be like half-price! And so prices have been going up.
Now things are different, and people who took mortgages they could just afford are realising that interest rates go up as well as down.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Food for Thought
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Bailing out the Banks
The banks seem to think that it is up to the Bank of England to bail them out of their credit problems. Prior to their meeting today with Mervyn King, they say that he needs to do more.
Why? Their gaul is incredible. This is a problem of the banks own making. They've lent out more money than they can cover, to people who can't afford to pay the money back.
It would be exactly the same principle if you or I were to take out a large mortgage, then lose our job, and so go to the the Bank of England asking it to lend us some more money until we get another job.
We would expect to be laughed out the door, but for some reason, the banks seem to think that they have the right to expect special treatment - and all at the taxpayers expense!
Why? Their gaul is incredible. This is a problem of the banks own making. They've lent out more money than they can cover, to people who can't afford to pay the money back.
It would be exactly the same principle if you or I were to take out a large mortgage, then lose our job, and so go to the the Bank of England asking it to lend us some more money until we get another job.
We would expect to be laughed out the door, but for some reason, the banks seem to think that they have the right to expect special treatment - and all at the taxpayers expense!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Becoming a Police State, Again
Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert.
Woe betide any child that does something naughty, indicating that they may be a potential criminal!
Woe betide any child that does something naughty, indicating that they may be a potential criminal!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Israel will still attend peace talks
..after the attack by a Palestinian gunman.
Of course they will, cos frankly even after the incident, they've hardly got the moral high-ground after spending a week killing 140 Palestinians. This, strangely enough, doesn't seem to qualify as terrorism. Apparently if you've got a well-financed army, you can do anything and it doesn't qualify as terrorism.
Of course they will, cos frankly even after the incident, they've hardly got the moral high-ground after spending a week killing 140 Palestinians. This, strangely enough, doesn't seem to qualify as terrorism. Apparently if you've got a well-financed army, you can do anything and it doesn't qualify as terrorism.
