Not that politicians (&, by extension, most of us voters) do not share the blame. The belief in property owning democracy, without understanding that that also means in most cases a mortgage owing democracy; the push for banks to provide financial services for all; forcing young people into debt to finance their education
Refusal to countenance the idea of paying for a service which makes cash readily available at all hours on demand; loving the ease of paying by debit card. Flashing the plastic credit card, a keep the change insouciance about small purchases … See how we all depend on it?
Not that this means that I think the money men have merely been applying their mighty brainpower to respond to these demands solely out of the goodness of their hearts & a sense of community spirit
Some of their insouciance beggars belief. I read at the weekend a report about bond insurance, which pays out in the event of the issuing company going down. Trouble is, bond insurance contracts known as credit default swaps (CDS) were traded in the market. Hedge funds have bought a lot of these as investments & “had never expected to have to pay out” Huh? Why not? Did they just think that this was an old style money for nothing Lloyds Name trick?
Related post: House prices
