UK retail sales fell 1.4% in May

RenovationMan

chazzee wrote: »

That's what really concerns the BoE down the road. If you choke off what little growth prospects we have now, that could be a real certainty.

Forget that, people on here need cheap petrol, fags and booze and a rate rise is the only way to get it!

DervProf

RenovationMan wrote: »

Yes, perhaps we should increase interest rates to cool our overheated economy.

I didn't hear many people saying that in 2005. I dared to suggest it a couple of times, only to be told that I didn't know what i was going on about. I then suggested that if debt levels carried on increasing the way they are, there would be big trouble. There followed a bit of laughter and some funny looks.

RenovationMan

DervProf wrote: »

I didn't hear many people saying that in 2005. I dared to suggest it a couple of times, only to be told that I didn't know what i was going on about. I then suggested that if debt levels carried on increasing the way they are, there would be big trouble. There followed a bit of laughter and some funny looks.

But you didn't join the forum until Jul 2007. :huh:

chucky

RenovationMan wrote: »

Yes, perhaps we should increase interest rates to cool our overheated economy.

unfortunately sarcasm doesn't transfer very well on an internet forum...

i never understand why people that depend on savings interest never want to touch any of the savings but complain they have no money due to low interest rates. bizarre...

DervProf

RenovationMan wrote: »

But you didn't join the forum until Jul 2007. :huh:

If you read what I posted, I said I got some "funny looks". This might suggest that when I said those things, I said them face to face. And just because I didn't join until 2007, doesn't mean that I didn't say things like this. I said it while chatting amongst friends, family and clients. The response was varied, but often my opinion was dismissed as "rubbish".

DervProf

chucky wrote: »

unfortunately sarcasm doesn't transfer very well on an internet forum...

I got the sarcasm, that's what prompted the reply.

Conrad

DervProf wrote: »

If you read what I posted, I said I got some "funny looks". This might suggest that when I said those things, I said them face to face. And just because I didn't join until 2007, doesn't mean that I didn't say things like this. I said it while chatting amongst friends, family and clients. The response was varied, but often my opinion was dismissed as "rubbish".

Believe it or not, I was once pretty bearish and went through the same experience as you. I was almost reticent to bring up the impending crash, so set in thier minds were people that 'the house prices only going up in'it'.

They used to scoff and raise eyebrows - with a quip like 'huh, too many Poles and not enough houses fella, prices are only going one way'.

I always tend to be a contrarian and in fact it's a bit of a curse as you find yourself isolated in many ways. I seem to spot things that no one else even thinks about, so I forever find fault with products and services which can be a bit of a curse as I say.

Even this morning I went to wipe my botty with new Waitrose wet wipes and the dumb designer as ever had not properly thought things through. As the wipes get low, one cannot reach those at the bottom of the tub and the hole is too small for normal sized fingers, dohhh!

RenovationMan

DervProf wrote: »

If you read what I posted, I said I got some "funny looks". This might suggest that when I said those things, I said them face to face. And just because I didn't join until 2007, doesn't mean that I didn't say things like this. I said it while chatting amongst friends, family and clients. The response was varied, but often my opinion was dismissed as "rubbish".

So you said something to some people none of us know back in 2005 and they looked at you funny?

Thanks for sharing.

DervProf

RenovationMan wrote: »

So you said something to some people none of us know back in 2005 and they looked at you funny?

Thanks for sharing.

It's my pleasure.

There was a slightly subtle reason for that post. It was in response to your "tongue in cheek" remark "Yes, perhaps we should increase interest rates to cool our overheated economy". I know where you are coming from with that remark, and I do appreciate the sarcasm that it was delivered with.

I was merely pointing out that now, the BoE seem to think it right that the base rate should be kept low, and I tend to generally agree to that idea. What I was implying is that when things were "going well" (as some people thought), the BoE didn't seem too keen to use interest rates to prevent things getting out of control. "Must keep inflation around 2%" was their mantra. And while the nation seemed to be having a bit of a binge on easy credit (and mortgage rates were not much higher than they are today, despite the higher base rate), I just thought that it was risky to carry on that way.

It seems to me that the BoE will use interest rates when things turn sour, but they won't use them to help prevent things going wrong. The reason that interest rates are so low now is because they allowed people to get into too much debt in the first place, and the high levels of debt are what indirectly caused the credit crunch.

Now, we are told that the BoE have power to do what they didn't do before. I wonder if they'll ever use those powers ?

chucky

i hadn't realised that the BoE Base Rate was the only exclusive fiscal tool that could be used to tackle inflation or an economy over heating. very strange...