Oh buggery and bollocks

[blamebrampton]

This was not the weekend I was hoping for. I cut back and weeded the garden out the front with minimal damage to self, but did not make any impact on the side garden, which must be revived before we can build the cat run we plan. None of my invoices had been paid, so I am completely out of ready cash. Which is all bad enough, but when I sat down to do my Italian homework, I found that the Cookie cat had chewed through the cord of my much-loved BOSE iPod headphones, rendering them useless.

On top of that, I am still coughing. And Lehman transferred £4.4bn from their London office to New York just hours before they collapsed, with the result that the American staff have assets for salaries and pensions, while the London staff can't even afford to pay secretaries. It's just outrageously poor behaviour. Worse, the cockheads in New York who cause all this disaster are in line for big bonuses and ludicrous salaries with the Barclays buyout. I despair.

I know that a lot of people are more bored with finance than they are with politics, but at the moment I think you need to work through your boredom and read the financial pages. Do you know what shortselling is? A hedge fund? Can you tell with certainty who owns your mortgage? Do you know exactly who owns the company that you may one day wish to sue? More importantly, does anyone know exactly who owns it, or is it part of the elaborate shell-game that has been high-end finance over the last 15 years? Like the environment, these are not questions that laypeople should leave for 'the experts' to worry about.

Anyway, in happier news,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to jamie2109 , mabonwitch  and mistful 
If the three of you had been running Lehman or HBOS, I think we'd probably still be heading for a global recession, but it all would have been done ethically, and with wit, and people wouldn't mind half so much!

Comments

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Oh I think we'll have that back, thank you. Transfers in advance of bankruptcy tp defeat crefitors can be set aside.

Wankers though.

And I know what shortselling is. It doesn't matter who owns my mortgage though. That's not my risk, it's their risk. It's where my pension is that's the risk. And you just can't tell the answer to that because the bastards won't tell you.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Well, you have some degree of protection in place for your mortgage, but spare a thought for those poor Americans who can have their whole mortgage called in at a moment's notice because some tosser in their bank thought it would be a good idea to invest in a margin.

I'm too afraid to look at this quarter's report form my superannuation fund. At least it is a little protected by being invested locally.

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Mortgages over there are a very different beast indeed if they can call it in when you're not in default. Haven't they heard of equity?

I've not saved, so...on the one hand I'm going to starve in old age. On the other, I've not seen them wiped out by the stock market.



And I've tried to find tickets to get to Florence, and it's turning to be a bit of a pig. Either I go to Pisa, and transfer by bus, and the flights are at shitty times, or I go to actual Florence on some third rate Italian airline that might collapse before I get there. And I don't mean Alitalia.

I'm thinking I'll go to Florence.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I'm flying into Rome and catching a train for the same reason. Is there anything good to Bologna? It's an easy train from there!

And yeah, the free market in the US is more the free for a small group of people to walk away with the market for what I can make out. It's even more terrifying than their appalling lack of holidays.

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Ah. I shall look. Though that all sounds a bit complicated and needing advanced linguistic skillz.

Yeah.

And I was having an interesting conversation with someone who seemed to think it was wrong to make rich people pay more tax, because they'd worked hard for their money. Erm.... well you shouldn't tax poor people more because not only have they worked hard for their money, they don't have any to spare to pay tax.

~shakes head~

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I can send you a list of essential phrases. It's all quite easy, really ;-)

Oh lord, head shaking doesn't even begin ...

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

It's not easy. I am English, and descended from a long line of ancestors who all thought that shouting at foreigners was as good as speaking Foreign.


Mind you, all the Believing in Obama is only going to end in tears. No one can carry that amount of hope. Best to regard politicians with distrust and hostility and blame.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was once the same as you, but then discovered that linguistic skill comes with added shagging opportunities, and never looked back.

I'm not sure I believe in Obama, but I do believe he's smart enough to be a good legislator even if he is smug enough to be annoying about it. Would make a pleasant change from the last 8 years of smug, stupid Americans.

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

I'd have to learn Swedish really... Italians don't tend to come in blond, so even that incentive will not work.

He reminds me of Blair.... ~shudders~ OTOH McCain / Palin remind me.. well there are no parallels. They're even further to the right than the BNP. I don't think it matters which lot get in. Obama can't do anything sensible for fear of being elitist, and pro European and anti american.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It boggles my mind that elite is meant to be an insult. Why would you want to be governed by mediocre? *more head shaking*

You do get some blond Italians, but not as many as to make it worthwhile. What you DO find re Swedes and Norwegians wintering in Italy ...

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

I can remember being told not to go to a particular university when I was at school because it was elitist.

Indeed, and that was the reason for my choice.

Ooooooh

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Well done!

And I'll try and corral a few for you in advance.

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

You wouldn't believe how many people here jumped on the easy money train and got into mortgages they couldn't afford. Now G and I are patting ourselves on the back for renting instead.

Cats aren't supposed to chew cords - that's DOG behavior! ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

That's what I told her! All the way through the coating and half the copper, the little bugger! I should never have left it out, but we were only gone for an hour. Grrrr!

The subprime crisis was bad enough, but the shonkiness of some of the investment models Lehman and HBOS were playing with was just astonishing.

[violetage.livejournal.com]

Have just made my first but probably not last political post. *g*

I don't know what any of that stuff is but I do know how to look it up, at least some of it. I have known for a while that finance had become a shell game. I remember being alarmed a few years ago when I read something, somewhere (I know, how precise of me) about how much land in New York City is actually owned by off shore companies. That sort of thing still alarms me but I admit the sheer size of the problem with some of these things tends to make my brain break. It's not boredom, it's the inability to see the forest well enough to figure out where to start cutting down trees. I imagine I am not the only one who feels this way.

I think it is horrid for Lehman to have behaved that way. Bleh

Oh dear, poor you. I constantly can't find my headphones as I am the epitome of absent-minded. So many things to think about, so little time to cover it all. I would hate to have spent the cash for bose ones to find them now useless.

And ugh, ebil flu. *makes you some tea*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

*Sob* you're right, they weren't cheap!

I like your post and will be off to comment in a minute. What disturbs me most is that the whole issue is portrayed in parts of American politics as a special interest issue, rather than the basic human rights issue it is. And exactly the same flawed arguments that were trotted out against desegregation and women's rights are being recycled. Gah!

[jamie2109.livejournal.com]

...and with more porn, to boot. heh.

I have to admit that my new 'pay attention to world matters' attitude has found me beginning to despair of the entire global financial situation. Perhaps I was better off blinkered and uninformed. Especially seeing as I've not been in a position to have a super fund, nor purchase a house and therefore do not have any large assets to lose.

Anyway, thanks for the birthday wishes. What's 48 worth in this market? 29? Yeah, I'll take that heh. (never knew I shared a birthday with the PM.)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Ooh! You do too! I had no idea, either!

Yes, there would be more porn and far far better dialogue. And when things went into meltdown there would be highly amusing explanations rather than denial and insistence on multi-million-dollar payouts.

And yeah, knowledge may be power, but it is also disturbing!

48 is the new 34, just remember the attitude ;-)

[jamie2109.livejournal.com]

Well, when Rove began singing Happy birthday at the start of his show last night, for a split second I attempted to delude myself that he was singing for me and that all the nation knew who I was and worshipped me... *cough*

And just for the record...I'd take a multi million dollar payout right about now so if there's any going... ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Snort! I've been buried under report hell for the last few days, but I love the idea of Rove singing you happy birthday!

[sarcasticpixie.livejournal.com]

Nine months ago, I couldn't have given a shit about finance beyond balancing my own checkbook (and even that was a struggle).

Then I landed a position at a university where I deal with what I believe should be the two most pressing issues for all Americans -- healthcare and personal finance management -- on a daily basis. I received more phone calls about employees' retirement funds last week than I have the entire time I've been there.

My 401(a) and 403(b) (yeah, nonprofit fund management) are relatively safe in a TIAA-CREF money market and a Fidelity Investments cash reserve, with 25% of my 401(a) contributions going to a Social Change fund because I believe in investing in the future and the environment, dammit. I moved all my personal finance management over to a local credit union (that supports education -- I'm eligible for membership because of my affiliation with both my alma mater and current employer) because I've lost all faith in Bank of America, and while the credit union's online system is a little dino-esque, I like knowing that I'm a part-owner of this institution and that when I call with a question I get a real person who knows me. I know that you can never, never start saving for retirement too early, and that tapping your 401(k) early for a house that will rapidly depreciate in value at this point is the worst thing you can do.

However, I probably wouldn't have known ANY of this if not for my job. (Sorry for any typos -- cat is trying to eat my finger as I type and I can't reach the backspace key.) I read the financial pages of the Boston Globe every morning now (although news and sports still come first in my world), but if I didn't have the job I do, I probably wouldn't.

My demographic -- Americans under 30 -- is astonishingly financially illiterate, and I'll include myself in that statement because I'm obligated by employment to know these things and wouldn't know them otherwise. I honestly still don't know how retirement funding works in the for-profit world. The idea of matching with a 401(k) doesn't make any sense to me, because my university automatically contributes 5% (under 40) and 10% (over 40) of your annual salary to a basic retirement fund no matter what.

And as for healthcare, it breaks my heart every time a new hire calls because they don't believe that we offer 75% subsidized health insurance through the two best health plans in the country without requiring evidence of insurability or a statement of health, and that we'll still subsidize 60% of the premium when you add your spouse and family. We have a fairly low hours-threshold for benefits eligibility, we make the COBRA process as fast as possible, and as long as you're an active employee, we don't care if you're 100 years old -- you get the same health insurance as everyone else, at the same price. And when you retire, we offer six different subsidized plans that work with Medicare, and you can stay on those forever.

In other words, I really love my job, because I know I'm in one of the last remaining workplaces -- higher education -- that will take care of its employees like this. The McCain healthcare plan to move all healthcare to an individualized market-based system makes me want to throw up and cry at the same time like a drunk sorority girl on mixer night. I hate that people can't believe we'll subsidize this much and I hate that they think there's going to be an age limit on coverage and I hate that 80-year-old retirees were calling me last week to find out if their investments were safe and I hate the idea that my government will use $70b in taxpayer money to bail out irresponsible Wall Street firms but is blindingly afraid of subsidizing healthcare and I hate knowing that if McCain wins this election then I can kiss my way of life goodbye.

Wow, that was a novel. :P

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

No, it was a factual dramatisation! And you have neatly summed up all the reasons why I worry for you American folk. You deserve better than that. And it disturbs me that ideology keeps some politicians from admitting that the current failures in health and other sectors aren't going to magically turn around.

[deensey.livejournal.com]

The current financial situation is catching people by surprise, which in turn, surprises me. HOW CAN THAT BE SURPRISING? I mean, they've been acting irresponsibly and preposterously for yonks, and yet this is all a shock?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Well, at the Lehman end, rather than at the subprime end, they've been getting away with it for years, who knew that the more conservative lenders would suddenly demand proof of underlying value? (GAH!)

[beatnikspinster.livejournal.com]

Sorry about your headphones. That stinks.

Lehman are such shits. It doesn't shock me though. Senior management always makes out. I'm hoping that this tragedy helps push the election to Obama. And real change. It's asinine that it takes the financial collapse of the Western World to convince the undecided 40% of this country to vote for a non-right-winger. Sometimes I loathe my country. Loathe.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I have new headphones, all is forgiven!

The swing away from another four years of tax-and-spend (on in fact, don't worry about the taxing but spend anyway) GOP is the only good thing to come out of this month in American politics!

Don't loathe, reform!

[abusing-sarcasm.livejournal.com]

I know that a lot of people are more bored with finance than they are with politics, but at the moment I think you need to work through your boredom and read the financial pages. Do you know what shortselling is? A hedge fund? Can you tell with certainty who owns your mortgage? Do you know exactly who owns the company that you may one day wish to sue? More importantly, does anyone know exactly who owns it, or is it part of the elaborate shell-game that has been high-end finance over the last 15 years? Like the environment, these are not questions that laypeople should leave for 'the experts' to worry about.

YES. Yes. I constantly worry about the state of willful ignorance that most people live in when it comes to economics.

Of course, I have an advantage, being married to a man with a stockbroker's license who is also an Austrian economist. On the one hand, it's a little terrifying to actually understand what's going on out there. Though, on the other hand, we always know exactly when to fill up the car because he can tell you the price of a barrel of light sweet crude, and which way it's trending... Handy, that.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Ha! The old painful truth conundrum! I used to live with a boy who was a microbiologist for the water company. When he brought home bottles of filtered water, we drank them!

[themadpoker.livejournal.com]

I am one of those people who does not know the answer to a single on of those questins you asked. ^^; My understanding of what happened with the Lehmans is that they've gone bust, it's a huge financial crisis and one of the causes/problems was the lack of regulation on financiers. And I only know this much because avaaz.org sent me a petition to sign about it. >_> Obviously I fail at being well-informed. I should do something about that.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Well, preferably your legislators would have done something about it first, but since they seem to be so woeful these days, I am afraid it's homework for all of us!

[mabonwitch.livejournal.com]

Thank you! This is my first birthday on lj, and so far it's been a good one.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Did you score good loot?

[shadowclub.livejournal.com]

I agree:)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

And it's all gone from bad to worse since then ... at least my cough has improved!