Comments on: Great Britain – The "Rust Belt" of Global Finance

By: Nigel Groves

Nigel Groves — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:14:14 +0000

Comment by W Morrison on 23 January 2009:

"The trade unions wrecked the various industries. Maggie Thatcher saved what was left."

Well, as an example: Maggie sold BL to BAe for a song, BAe in turn stripped millions of £'s from the sale of land assets. finally disposing the bones of a once great UK hive of industry to BMW who, in turn, robbed an international network of 117 importer markets from Land Rover & Rover plus 3 regional offices in Dubai, Singapore and South America. BMW also got all of the advanced 4×4 technolgy from UK, developed X5 and sold the tech. to other maufacturers. BMW kept minor portion of East Works in Oxford where they continue their Mini version production. Yeah, nice work Maggie. And when things got too tough and Maggie grew tired (with all that ruining national coal, steel, oil and agricultural industries) – it's over to New Labour! A similar parody: George W. Bush handing control of the canoe to Mr. Obama after he's already lost the paddle – talk about ironic. What great testaments to history.

By: mark noeth

mark noeth — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:08:47 +0000

Hey, Craig Bradley, say the same thing 5 or 6 more times, you'll feel better. Maybe.

By: Bernie Torbik

Bernie Torbik — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:31:43 +0000

Another, and perhaps more impactful development for the UK economy, is the fact that North Sea oil and gas are rapidly running out. The UK is becoming a net importer of oil and gas, with significant implications for its balance of payments and the sterling's exchange rate.

Couple this with the impact of the financial crisis and it's likely that the UK will experience the same economic malaise that Japan saw after the 1980s bubble, only much worse, as the UK doesn't have Japan's trade surplus to cushion the impact.

By: Great Britain - The “Rust Belt” of Global Finance | No Brainer Profits

Great Britain - The “Rust Belt” of Global Finance | No Brainer Profits — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:34:30 +0000

[...] Read more: Great Britain – The “Rust Belt” of Global Finance [...]

By: costantine

costantine — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:35:36 +0000

Let us remind our selves that UK Plc, among others owned BP, electricity, gas, water, the Giro Bank, in addition was bless with oil and Gas. What UK Plc owns now?
Thatcher, sold the family silver as the late Harold Macmillan said, she sold every thing or berried them in the ground as with the coal.
Compare, her policies with that of Norway's oil, gas. The money has being investmested, and the investment value is equivalent to £54 000 for each of its citizens.

By: Carlos E. Comesana

Carlos E. Comesana — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:22:51 +0000

If there is a lesson we can learn from this crisis is that Central Banks are to be absolutely independent and responsible for enacting and executing the current and necessary new regulations that are to be in place before new financial instruments are marketed. Accountability has to be required from the responsible for this mess before more time elapses. Make a list, sue them, send them to prison and seize their assets. Mr. Obama should – as soon as possible – nationalize temporarily the financial system and give everybody working in such entities a public servant status and compensation. Mr. Obama should frankly recognize that because the pressure of lack of time or even the necessary deep involvement with the financial services he should change as soon as possible some of his nominees deeply involved at the roots of the crisis he has to manage.

By: Dick Brown

Dick Brown — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:53:48 +0000

Being married to an british bride and having inlaws still in Britain I can not understand the comments of Jon and A.
Pearsall. Their beliefs and my observations are that she and
Reagan almost saved our countrys. But the people that want
government to succor and suport them whether they work
or not may explain their view.

By: Craig Bradley

Craig Bradley — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:15:07 +0000

FINANCIAL HUSKERISM?

By: Craig Bradley

Craig Bradley — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:08:50 +0000

This site and its authors seldom have anything upbeat or good to say, except possibly the next hot investment play-make 400%- (speculative) to keep the suckers going (subscribe to this or that newsletter). Thus moneymorning is merely following trends and the mass media with more negativism. It is getting real old and what's more, a bit boring, as well.

By: W Morrison

W Morrison — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:16:54 +0000

The trade unions wrecked the various industries. Maggie Thatcher saved what was left.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:14:38 +0000

An insightful article but at times a little too formulaic. London's infrastructure is being bent about for the next Olympics, airports included; finance turmoil aside it is still the HQ for half the FTSE 100 and almost a quarter of the largest businesses across Europe; it is yet to be rocked by US-scale fraud (and subsequently stifled by anti-fraud regulations); plus there are dozens of other factors at play here, such as London being a shorter flight than New York from Moscow and being in the right time zone to do business with Europe, Russia and most of Asia before the US has gotten out of bed. It is often described as the most culturally diverse financial centre in the world, and I don't see that changing any time soon. At any rate not before the next upturn.

And come on, London has less rain than New York, Perth or Jerusalem. Weather wise it's no different to Frankfurt, nor to any other metropolis large enough to have its own micro-climate. That's such a non issue it detracts from some of the more startling points here.

By: A. Pearsall

A. Pearsall — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:10:53 +0000

I'll note that in her native land, and not in U.S. right-wing opinion factories like the American Enterprise Institute or the WSJ op-ed section, Margaret Thatcher is and will long remain the most hated and despised woman since the queen nicknamed "Bloody Mary," who lived over 400 years ago. Thatcher's critics, and they are legion, will see the collapse of the "financial services"-based casino economy that she and her advisors fostered as only the icing on the cake. To the extent that Tony Blair and his own cronies supported her old policies, they are also hated and despised. (In particular, Blair is despised by pretty much the entire British nation for his unfathomable buddy-buddy relationship with George W. Bush.) On the back of the approaching fiscal calamity, it's hard not to see the Labour (i.e. Labor) Party not holding on to its rule in the UK for another generation or more.

By: mark noeth

mark noeth — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:01:11 +0000

Central Banks operate the way they do, not by accident, but because they are independent. The Federal or Royal government has little influence. World Bank and its objectives are best served by allowing people and their governments to have their way, collapse their currency and economy, so that the people will beg for the salvation that previously they would not have tolerated. Now (not yet, its not bad enough yet) the Bank can foist its international policies on those collapsed economies. Remember that World Bank is a functionary of the UN and the UN's purpose is to attain peace and nations with their own money can still war with one another, until they are broke. Then, the idea goes, there will be peace. As for Mr. Obama, he can only do what he is allowed to do.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:16:33 +0000

"Thatcher’s restructuring of British manufacturing" – you mean "Thatcher’s destruction of British manufacturing" surely?