Finally! Darling admits they were wrong!

leveller2911

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

Ironically, I think you have just proven my 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' comment.

If you put make-up on a pig.............. its still a pig.

We live in the real world Sir Humph, ministers obviously don,t...

They don,t understand the word "reality"

Rochdale_Pioneers

Wookster wrote: »

Queue Rochdale to come and claim that its a global recession...

Are you claiming that its *NOT* a global recession?

Wookster

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

Are you claiming that its *NOT* a global recession?

Let the faithful sing

StevieJ

Wookster wrote: »

Let the faithful sing

Wookie, you lack a sense of reality

Graham_Devon

StevieJ wrote: »

Wookie, you lack a sense of reality

Sounds like the perfect candidate for PM then.

Rochdale_Pioneers

StevieJ wrote: »

Wookie, you lack a sense of reality

I would love Wookie to back that up. Whatever your opinions of Brown, his actions in the UK or whether he is a "one-eyed Scotch git" or anything else you want to throw at him, you cannot deny that there is a global recession. Whatever the failings of UK regulation may be, they do not answer how regulation managed to fail similtaniously in so many countries producing the same results. Either Brown is responsible for what Germany et al do as well, or there is something bigger going on that has swept away half the world regardless of their regulatory framework.

Unless of course you live on Planet Wookster

StevieJ

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

I would love Wookie to back that up. Whatever your opinions of Brown, his actions in the UK or whether he is a "one-eyed Scotch git" or anything else you want to throw at him, you cannot deny that there is a global recession. Whatever the failings of UK regulation may be, they do not answer how regulation managed to fail similtaniously in so many countries producing the same results. Either Brown is responsible for what Germany et al do as well, or there is something bigger going on that has swept away half the world regardless of their regulatory framework.

Unless of course you live on Planet Wookster

All roads lead to the US, whatever the Brown baiters think:eek: Any overvaluation of properties and excessive debts
could have been rebalanced gently over a few years if the CDO problem had not raised its ugly head.

matthewcb

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

Either Brown is responsible for what Germany et al do as well, or there is something bigger going on that has swept away half the world regardless of their regulatory framework.

If this is true, then surely the preceding 10 years of economic growth were also 'global' and therefore nothing to do with Brown's reign as Chancellor? So what's the point of Gordon Brown?

The truth is of course, as always, somewhere in the middle. This *is* a global recession. However, Brown and Blair's (lest we forget he was PM for 10 years) appalling management of the UK economy have left this country in a weakened state during this crisis and not well placed to recover any time soon.

When the recovery starts, I'm pretty certain the UK will lag behind because we're so hamstrung by the billions and billions that need to be paid back. And that is because of the Labour party, an administration obsessed with cosying up to big business, fighting wars illegally and creating a bloated public sector.

Rochdale_Pioneers

StevieJ wrote: »

All roads lead to the US, whatever the Brown baiters think:eek: Any overvaluation of properties and excessive debts
could have been rebalanced gently over a few years if the CDO problem had not raised its ugly head.

To be clear, our banks have exposed themselves to the kind of toxic assets that banks in somewhere like Spain whose regulations were tighter have not. But has that stopped Spain crashing into a recession that forecasts unemployment double our own?

And when you look at other countries our banks have been relatively restrained. How did Austrian and Icelandic and Irish banks manage to borrow so many multiples of their respective GDPs - cash borrowed from abroad to be loaned abroad? Eastern Europe financed its modernisation in Euros and Swiss Francs which have now inflated 60% and more which they can't afford to repay - you want to see countries default on their debts go look at Slovakia, not the UK.

And I think Brown made a valid point this morning - the risks the banks were taking were not seen as risks at the time. RBS has freely admitted that buying ABN Amro was the disaster that pushed them over the edge. Yet that bank was pronounced clean by the Dutch regulators and its assets declared AAA by the system used by banks worldwide. Its easy to criticise banks here and in Denmark and in France for buying what are now toxic assets from America, but according to the system they were sound.

Some people still think we can fix a UK problem in the UK alone. Our banks will have to do business with foreign banks to stay in business. Without the kind of global regulatory framework being called for, how can we guarantee that the same thing won't happen again?

Graham_Devon

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

I would love Wookie to back that up. Whatever your opinions of Brown, his actions in the UK or whether he is a "one-eyed Scotch git" or anything else you want to throw at him, you cannot deny that there is a global recession.

I can.

Since when did Europe, Russia and America make up "global"?