Bankers "need to join real world" minister says

[User removed 4]

Or another moral of the story could be not to bale them out in the first place, then the govt wouldn't be left holding worthless stock.

I'd call their bluff. A few would go, most wouldn't, and maybe we could re-evaluate what is actually important in life and put proplr to work there. The obsession with financial institutions in this country is unhealthy.

As El Pres spelled out earlier, the model is no-lose, and the reward-for-failure culture a disgrace. Any other smaller business in the country is looking at the banks thinking 'If I screw up, I lose my livelihood and possibly my house.'

Im tired of patiently explaining the why's and wherefores of this , so this time i'll just tell you what absolute unadulterated bollocks you're talking.

PS Can you tell me what you think might have happened had we not bailed them out and allowed RBS to fail ?

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

no hes not mate, wasnt there a case relatively recently where thameslink poached a load of drivers from southern or vice versa ??

as you well know, most of the poaching that goes on in the city is done in grotty wine bars over beers and cocaine. I would argue that the majority of 'highly skilled' workers from the financial markets are just pawns being moved around in the a game of who has the biggest nuts.

In my market experience, many of the people I have met, who are supposedly irreplaceable or highly sort after, are nothing more than hyped up over exposed thick tossers.

 

[User removed 4]

as you well know, most of the poaching that goes on in the city is done in grotty wine bars over beers and cocaine. I would argue that the majority of 'highly skilled' workers from the financial markets are just pawns being moved around in the a game of who has the biggest nuts.

In my market experience, many of the people I have met, who are supposedly irreplaceable or highly sort after, are nothing more than hyped up over exposed thick tossers.

I take great exception to the inference that cocaine has had any bearing on my career path.

 

[Tooting Gull]

Im tired of patiently explaining the why's and wherefores of this , so this time i'll just tell you what absolute unadulterated bollocks you're talking.

PS Can you tell me what you think might have happened had we not bailed them out and allowed RBS to fail ?

And I'm tired of pointing out to people who simply don't want to understand that to the individuals most affected, what would happen to a bank is no different to any other company ballsing it up.

Think how absurd what you are saying actually is. You have a massive, multi-billion pound company run by people earning fortunes plus massive bonuses to do it well. They screw up, don't lose any of their own money, and no one pays except for the taxpayer. It's madness.

I don't think you're ever going to get it, because to do that you would have to be running your own business, looking at risk and reward, making judgments and taking responsibility if you get it wrong. That is a language the banks just don't understand.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Think how absurd what you are saying actually is. You have a massive, multi-billion pound company run by people earning fortunes plus massive bonuses to do it well. They screw up, don't lose any of their own money, and no one pays except for the taxpayer. It's madness.

And whilst Joe Public may not understand the ins and outs of banking or the FSA - we do understand that.

 

[User removed 4]

And I'm tired of pointing out to people who simply don't want to understand that to the individuals most affected, what would happen to a bank is no different to any other company ballsing it up.

As before , absolute unadulterated bollocks, the knock on effect in our economy would have been nothing short of catastrophic, you simply havent got a f***ing clue what you're talking about.

 

[Lokki 7]

And I'm tired of pointing out to people who simply don't want to understand that to the individuals most affected, what would happen to a bank is no different to any other company ballsing it up.

This is simply not true though. Remember all those people standing outside Northern Rock? Well that was a mere taste of what would happen, after all, those people GOT their cash. Imagine every bank failing at the same time (because that is what would happen). No cash in cash machines or shop tills. People wouldn't get paid. Businesses would fail. Before long society would collapse. All savings, pensions, house values wiped out overnight.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

As before , absolute unadulterated bollocks, the knock on effect in our economy would have been nothing short of catastrophic, you simply havent got a f***ing clue what you're talking about.

because the way it works now is f***ing brilliant...isn't it...

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

because the way it works now is f***ing brilliant...isn't it...

No, it's horrific...but worst case scenario that Lokki has correctly described above would have been a whole load worse.

 

[Tooting Gull]

As before , absolute unadulterated bollocks, the knock on effect in our economy would have been nothing short of catastrophic, you simply havent got a f***ing clue what you're talking about.

Your post, a bit like the banks' apocalyptic threats, is just hot air. Self interest. And the longer it is indulged, the longer it won't get sorted.

 

[Lokki 7]

because the way it works now is f***ing brilliant...isn't it...

Yeah you're right. Health care, free education, decent public transport, social services, democracy, freedom of choice, water on tap, food in the shops. All bollocks innit.

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

just slightly off topic, did you see bob crow on have i got news for you the other week ? he got spectacularly ruined by hislop and jimmy carr , he really wasnt sharp enough to be on there.

Yes I saw it, as you said he got ruined by Hislop and Carr, how dare they do that to one of my heroes!

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

..and there lies the whole problem. If we regulate it will be in isolation and any power or influence that the City has will diminish almost overnight. Neither the Tories or Labour would be ignorant enough to let that happen and by the same token neither party has the influence over the USA to make them play ball.
Funnily enough Sarkozy's statement of intent to regulate the City will play into our politicians hands and give them a populist reason to reject any change pushed upon us by a bitter country that lost all it's financial power a decade ago.

Robert Peston's blog that was posted on this thread talks all about this sort of thing, it seems it is the Yanks that are the ones who don't want to play ball on the reforming front.

 

[Tooting Gull]

This is simply not true though. Remember all those people standing outside Northern Rock? Well that was a mere taste of what would happen, after all, those people GOT their cash. Imagine every bank failing at the same time (because that is what would happen). No cash in cash machines or shop tills. People wouldn't get paid. Businesses would fail. Before long society would collapse. All savings, pensions, house values wiped out overnight.

It is clear that the system at the moment is not reliable, or probably viable, in the long term. Any system that has the potential for that outcome needs major surgery. You can't just be hoping it won't happen. Apart from anything else, that money could be spent much better elsewhere.

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

I take great exception to the inference that cocaine has had any bearing on my career path.

Was it Ecstasy then?!!!

 

[Gwylan]

This is simply not true though. Remember all those people standing outside Northern Rock? Well that was a mere taste of what would happen, after all, those people GOT their cash. Imagine every bank failing at the same time (because that is what would happen). No cash in cash machines or shop tills. People wouldn't get paid. Businesses would fail. Before long society would collapse. All savings, pensions, house values wiped out overnight.

I'm not saying that the banks shouldn't have been bailed out but the scenario you're describing is pretty much what happened in Iceland - all the major banks there failed and the economy nosedived.

But,as far as I can see, while there's been a lot of financial pain, Iceland has come through unscathed. Of course, it's a lot smaller than the UK and the impact of such a collapse would be massive on this country.

As a hypothetical example, if British banks found themselves close to collapse because of an over-exposure to debts in Dubai could the British government afford another RSB style rescue? If so, what would that do to our credit rating and if not, what would the implications be for the banking industry?

 

[Buzzer]

It is clear that the system at the moment is not reliable, or probably viable, in the long term. Any system that has the potential for that outcome needs major surgery. You can't just be hoping it won't happen. Apart from anything else, that money could be spent much better elsewhere.

Hmm...."not viable in the long term". Karl Marx was predicting that 150 odd years ago. He was wrong then and it's still wrong now. Capitalism works. It may not be pretty, it may have winners and losers but it certainly works.

And it's infinitely better than the socialist alternative.

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

Yeah you're right. Health care, free education, decent public transport, social services, democracy, freedom of choice, water on tap, food in the shops. All bollocks innit.

Decent public transport? Where do you live? France or Germany?

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Capitalism works. It may not be pretty, it may have winners and losers but it certainly works.

I don't disagree with the sentiment of the post - but the bail-out by the tax-player is not really part of the capitalist free-market model.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

This is simply not true though. Remember all those people standing outside Northern Rock? Well that was a mere taste of what would happen, after all, those people GOT their cash. Imagine every bank failing at the same time (because that is what would happen). No cash in cash machines or shop tills. People wouldn't get paid. Businesses would fail. Before long society would collapse. All savings, pensions, house values wiped out overnight.

sounds alright -everything has to blow up and start afresh sometime. Look at the bankers!

btw, it is what you believe would happen, I personally think that society is a stronger beast than to let it all go completely f***ed.