Anyone withdrawing savings due to 1% base rate?

Energize

I'm not taking my savings out, it's senseless to go from ISA rates of 3.5% to 0% under the mattress. I have moved money from savings to stocks and shares and gold though.

sh856531

Tell me, what has GB done to give people the impression that he was any good????

Well, there are a number of things that one could point out:-

1. Bank of England independence
2. Low levels of inflation
3. Consistent economic growth in the range of 2.5% - 3% per year
4. An early reduction in government debt (subsequently spent)
5. A near doubling of investment in the NHS
6. Low interest rates, meaning that millions of people can own their own homes rather than living off the government (council flats) or renting from the wealthy

These are all things that gave the initial impression that GB knew what he was doing. However, as we are seeing with dramatic effect now, many of those things were at the expense of long term viability.

I don't know how much of the blame to apportion to GB. Clearly someone should have been saying to the banks that the levels of leverage they were taking on would be legislated against if they didn't buck up.

But was it GB's job to do it? Or the FSA's? Did they even know what the banks were doing? I'd be really interested to know what GB's genuine feeling is - did he actually know and realise that he was "buying" growth with terrifyingly dangerous amounts of debt - or did he genuinely think it was all going to be fine...

I doubt we'll ever really know...

Take care

Ken68

Well, as a retired pensioner I am suffering on my savings, need someone to blame and someone to support in the future.
So deffo not the bankers and their paymasters or the present guvmint, so looks like Cleggy.
As for drawing out some of my savings, yes,a few hundred, for when when I see a cash deal.

27col

I have been wondering what the effect of a huge number of us savers withdrawing our savings for a short period might be. If as they say, there are about 6-8 savers to every borrower, might this have the effect of reminding the banks and building societies that we exist and are hurting.

sh856531

might this have the effect of reminding the banks and building societies that we exist and are hurting.

Yes it would, but it would also bankrupt all the banks. Then the government would have to step in and underwrite all the loses. Then sterling would collapse because no-one would want it as a currency and then we would be totally and utterly f$%^ed.

You could just plan a trip to Zimbabwe to see how this all plays out

:-)

Ken68

Nice phrase that col, "We exist and we are hurting".
Time for a change, more power to the credit unions, the co-op/trade union banks,and the building societies and ethical societies.
Savers need re-assurance that the days of the fat cats are over, and that savings are backed by tangible assets.

standinman2009

if we had a savers group we could make our voices heard maybe threaten to draw all our funds out as cash that would cripple the uk banking system they would be forced to listen to us the decent saver

simon_templar_2

The govt wont listen. They have tried to tax us out of our cars then decide to use money to prop up the car industry.

thrupence

standinman2009 wrote: »

if we had a savers group we could make our voices heard maybe threaten to draw all our funds out as cash that would cripple the uk banking system they would be forced to listen to us the decent saver

There's legislation to cover threats to what the government deems the British national interest, which would certainly include the above.

Seems Blair was planning ahead :eek:

sh856531

The govt wont listen. They have tried to tax us out of our cars then decide to use money to prop up the car industry.

Guys,

Whilst we can debate at length whether the government is or is not responsible for the current banking crises, many people complaining about government in this thread seem to be unaware of one extremely simple truth:

- The British Government *does not* set interest rates - the Bank of England does, completely independently of government.

And unfortunately for you and I, the BoE, along with just about every other economist who can count, has decided that the only way out of the current shitfest, is to cut interest rates massively - so that home owners start spending what they are now saving on their mortgages each month.

I don't like it any more than anyone else does, but *government* has very little to do with your savings rate.

Best Regards

S