Outside prime London, house prices are falling back to earth

sss555s

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that the £5,640 I put into last year's cash ISA is 'real'. I just got on line and checked it's there. It's real. It's not made up.

But the £230 million I have invested into shares of every Blue Chip company in Europe is "made up". I just made it up.

There's a difference....

Both just numbers on a screen.

Your ISA money is only there on the provision that everyone doesn't want to withdraw at the same time.

So is it really there in that case?

zagubov

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that the £5,640 I put into last year's cash ISA is 'real'. I just got on line and checked it's there. It's real. It's not made up.

But the £230 million I have invested into shares of every Blue Chip company in Europe is "made up". I just made it up.

There's a difference....

I'd keep believing it as hard as possible. We all need to. The minute we stop believing in it, it'll melt away like snow off a dyke.

It's all one big electronic pulse away from vanishing like "Goldeneye".

It's a social invention. If the concept of money died out, another culture would probably reinvent it pretty quick. Your and my precise funds would still stay vanished, I'm sorry to say.

Loughton_Monkey

sss555s wrote: »

Both just numbers on a screen.

Your ISA money is only there on the provision that everyone doesn't want to withdraw at the same time.

So is it really there in that case?

Sounds like you want to liken it to schrodinger's cat.

I don't care much for philosophy. I drink therefore I am..... and all that. I try to see things as they are.

The £180 in my wallet is definitely there. The £5,640 in my cash isa is 'there' but I would be worried if they could give everyone the £notes when asked. That would mean they were not investing it, and therefore couldn't pay me interest.

As for my £230 million, I can't even see it on a screen. I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist. If it did, I'd have had a third gin & tonic today. I doesn't, so I didn't.

zagubov

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

The £180 in my wallet is definitely there. The £5,640 in my cash isa is 'there' but I would be worried if they could give everyone the £notes when asked. That would mean they were not investing it, and therefore couldn't pay me interest.

I'm an old-book fanatic and love second-hand shops. Found one very cheap shabby book called "Sound Economy" which was obviously written during the Great Depression. It argued amongst other things that the mint print enough cash to cover all bank deposits instead of say one tenth, which I believe it is currently

The idea was that if there was a run on the banks again, the banks wouldn't run out of notes and everyone would calm down when they realised they'd get their money.

The last page was meant to be torn out and posted as it was a petition to the king.

I do also try to read more up-to-date stuff, honest!:beer:

sss555s

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

The £180 in my wallet is definitely there. The £5,640 in my cash isa is 'there' but I would be worried if they could give everyone the £notes when asked. That would mean they were not investing it, and therefore couldn't pay me interest.

As for my £230 million, I can't even see it on a screen. I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist. If it did, I'd have had a third gin & tonic today. I doesn't, so I didn't.

Simplistic way of looking at it but there is a much bigger picture.

Are you making from your ISA. Is the interest higher than the real rate of inflation, and I don't mean the rate they use when it suits them or is that money eroding in real terms.

Money is the tool the state use for control. They tax at every transaction point in the chain and they are still in a massive mess.
Lack of manufacturing/ exporting and not managing the country very well may well take everything we've got unless we get on top of it.

When you consider paying 40% tax on your earnings (+NI), then you buy an item at £1k. That's another 20% you pay in VAT and the seller pays tax on his profits/ salary too, and consider an item may have been passed from importer to distributor to reseller to you. The tax can be far more worth than the item.


If you did have £230m in the FTSE 100 and it dropped by 1% over night.

Where would the £2.3m you lost be?

What would the buying power of your £5,640 be if they decided to add another 0 to the screen of UK money supply.

Where did all the money go that has been taken from projected pensions for the last 30 years. The answer is it was never there, it was on a screen or a bit of paper back then

Your £180 could have bought you a new car many years ago but would only give you a good night out now.

Don't suppose you think of that as long as you've got the £180 in your wallet

Loughton_Monkey

sss555s wrote: »

...Are you making from your ISA. Is the interest higher than the real rate of inflation, and I don't mean the rate they use when it suits them or is that money eroding in real terms.

It's 4% fixed, so ..... so-so

sss555s wrote: »

If you did have £230m in the FTSE 100 and it dropped by 1% over night.

Where would the £2.3m you lost be?

Well actually, as I made it up, it wouldn't be anywhere. But this conundrum is easily sorted. When I paid £230 million for my shares, I passed £230 million pound notes to zagubov to buy them. That was real money to me. Real money to him.

Then I put a "value" on my shares in my books at £230 million. Then overnight, I put a new value of £207 million and reconciled it by putting £23 million as a loss. Strange, but my old silver pocket watch goes up and down in value every day.

When the shares have gone up to £250 million, I'll sell them to you. You give me the cash. Then I have made £20 million profit. Actual profit, Not paper profit.

sss555s wrote: »

Your £180 could have bought you a new car many years ago but would only give you a good night out now.

Would that this were true. Mrs LM has sophisticated tastes, and so do I. Not much change out of £250 if we go for a good meal these days....