Buddy, can you spare a Dime?

Posted by @ 10:19 am on Thursday 5th March, 2009.

Hey guys, let's not spread panic by using terms like "Monetary Inflation".

Let's call it "Quantitative Easing".

Hopefully nobody will notice what we're doing.

We've got an unlimited supply of paper, ink and fresh air, so let's get started.

Now, what design are we going to print on these new £650,000 notes?

 

8 Responses to “Buddy, can you spare a Dime?”

  1. I'm easily confused. Is this tactic different from a devaluation of the pound?

  2. BG! says:

    Yup. A pound will still have the same "value", but there will be more of them in the system. We won't be getting any of them, though.

  3. I'm still confused. Is this another way of giving the banks more of the tax-payer's money?

  4. BG! says:

    No. It's a way for the Bank of England to print new money to "invest" in the other banks to get them out of the shite. It's the thin end of the hyperinflation wedge, think post-WW1 Germany. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.....rinflation refers, there's a lot of good stuff on that page.

    Sadly, it looks like they're not going to "invest" in pension companies in the same way, which is a lack of foresight, IMO. As our pension funds diminish, the amount of tax that the Government of the Day can milk from claimed pensions decreases, which means that the Chancellor will have to juggle with a shortfall from that revenue source.

  5. Scott says:

    That £650,000 note link. Did Harriet Harman actually say "And it might be enforceable in a court of law, this contract, but it is not enforceable in the court of public opinion and that is where the government steps in."?

    Because if she did, then there must surely be some hope of getting Chris Moyles/Jonathan Ross/Ashley Cole etc onto minimum wage rates.

    😀

  6. Scott - a week later, and I'm still agog that she said that to Andrew Marr last Sunday. I saw it and thought - "sh*t, she's just killed her political career". But no. A couple of day's later there is talk that she is marking her pitch for becoming the Prime Minister! FFS, she's just thrown the rule of law out of the window, and some say she wants to run this country!

  7. BG! says:

    @George - Yup, it's an excellent idea, it's a shame that nobody would pass such a law, though, because the law-makers are all raking in more than £150k pa.
    It'd be easier to bypass the law-makers anyway, as they'll drag their feet forever and a day. Maybe a Chancellor could set a 100% tax-band lower-limit at £150k pa - that would do it.

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