BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

[plaques]

Actually, I think it is leading to a total breakdown of society, a dystopian world where the rich sit in enclaves with private security and the waves of protesting poor batter their walls like waves in a storm. Fat lot of good their wealth will do them then.

Wrong again Stanley, They will be sat on their private islands, massive estates as big as some European countries with enough high ground to take them above global warming, Private militia armies to keep the plebs on the right side of the wall. Palestine on a bigger scale.

[Tizer]

I agree with you both except I'd change what you say from future tense to present tense. They're already hiding away in their citadels. Rich Americans are buying up remote land and property in New Zealand to an extent that the NZ government has had to put limits in place on foreign purchases. We've seen the news about the rich buying former exploration ships. They already own islands. The rich of many countries own large tracts of land and property in the UK. They know there's a storm coming.

[Whyperion]

If they had any sense they should be selling it off. I would go for Ireland, or a Western Isle. Actually, if we go for a revolution, what, other than good standing, is to stop a UK Govt withdrawing the land ownings of non-british persons ? (after all title to land is total in the monarch, even freeholds are reversionary to them)

[Whyperion]

. They'll be in permanent lockdown and the underpaid workers will make sure they have a rising tide of crap and garbage. (And no water!)
Anyone care to argue against that?

Send In the Miltiary ? (Wellington still has his statue up)

[Stanley]

P.....

[plaques]

Disastrous day for the wallet yesterday tried to pay for a different car using my debit card. For no given reason the payment was blocked so trotted up to the bank for them to do their stuff. Everything sorted and car collected. Arrived home to find a message from the bank warning me to ring this number XXXX. A free 0808 number so give it a try. After a full concert of music a lady came on, "there is a security flag on your account I would like to run through the details".
Me, OK whats' the problem?
Lady, could you tell me the three numbers on the back of your card?
Me. No, banks have been brainwashing me long enough that banks would not ask for banking details over the phone. I'll sort it out at the branch, thank you and goodbye.
It turned out that to protect me from wrongful use they had blocked payment. Great, but why go against the rules that they themselves had set?

[Stanley]

M'lud.... I refer you to my earlier comments on the site re. incompetence. I rest my case.

[Tizer]

Tesco has returned to its `race to the bottom' - demand price cuts from suppliers so that it can match Aldi/Lidl prices. It's the same old strategy, hammer the suppliers and claim you're doing the customers a favour. We'll see more suppliers go out of business and the quality of products will fall...
`Tesco demands supplier price cuts in discount battle' LINK
`Tesco has reportedly asked suppliers to agree price cuts as it steps up its battle with budget supermarkets. The move is part of its shift to an "everyday low pricing strategy", which will see it use fewer promotions. A Tesco spokesperson said: "We are committed to open, fair and transparent partnerships with all of our suppliers." Tesco has given suppliers a deadline of 10 July to agree, according to the Grocer. Several suppliers told the trade publication that they faced pressure from the supermarket to lower their prices. Some raised concerns over the timescale of the demands, as well as a lack of clarity over how the change in promotions would work in practice.

By the way, has anyone noticed that austerity tricks are back? Strongbow has reduced the alcohol content of its cider to 4.5% and even toilet rolls are affected - the cardboard tubes are being made in a larger diameter but the overall diameter of the roll stays the same so you get less paper. Perhaps it's time to bring back the Cunning Wheezes topic?

[Stanley]

Tesco... The glories of the free market system. Self-defeating in the end of course but that makes no difference, they only see their bottom line.
The cunning wheezes never went away Tiz. There is a piece in PE this week about the parlous state of the insurance industry, one of the reasons why they are nit-picking about loss of profits insurance due to Covid, they are citing the small print and saying that 'advised to' is not the sane as 'forced to' close. One large firm, a household name, has just paid a £750,000 dividend but industry experts say that the drop in their asset prices means that on a realistic valuation they are actually insolvent. The article also paints a dire future for the companies selling free mortgages until you die. Many of them have a guarantee that they will make good any negative equity and that is getting more and more likely.
I repeat, the glories of the free market.

[plaques]

One large firm, a household name, has just paid a £750,000 dividend but industry experts say that the drop in their asset prices means that on a realistic valuation they are actually insolvent.

Talking of asset valuations. When my friend was selling one of his low cost 'for rent' houses during the last housing price collapse he completed a kerbside deal as an immediate instant purchase with a 10% markdown relative to the prices that were being advertised at that time. Happy to sell it against the slide in prices he was standing to one side when another 'suit' then stepped forward for another round of valuations. The figure arrived at was almost 30% higher than what he had sold it for. The only explanation was this was the 'asset' value which the firm was using to borrow against. All smoke and mirrors, Such is the world of finance.

[Stanley]

Exactly so Ken and not helped by the fact that the Big Four accountants collude in the illusion. I see that Ernst and Young getting into very deep water over some of their audits. Watch this space.
More and more attention is being devoted to matters like this and the suspect activities of 'remuneration committees' as the full scale of the imminent disaster looms. Can we hope that at last there will be some proper regulation? (Don't hold your breath.)
On a separate matter, any bets on how much help those in trouble will get from their banks? Loaning of umbrellas springs to mind.

[Tizer]

I've just read that Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has a `net worth' of 170,000,000,000 dollars (yes, $170 billion). If my maths is sound, that amount of money would provide for building 1,500 hospitals at an average cost of $112.5 million each. LINK Makes you think, doesn't it?

[Stanley]

Like you Tiz, I have been thinking about this for a long time. Example like Bezos abound as you well know and for me it's proof that our current version of capitalism is irretrievably flawed. It extends downwards to even council officials and headteachers but stops as soon as you get below that level where it throws itself into reverse with obscenely low wages for the ones who keep society going. Not only that but conditions and benefits are eroded as well, think of zero hours, below minimum wage levels and the effective death of contracts of employment with decent provision for sick pay, holidays and even overtime and that's in the UK not some far flung sweatshop economy. Job security vanished even before the present crisis and is now, in itself a crisis.
Once again I go back to Marx and Piketty, in their own way both are right and both forecast eventual breakdown of society and a savage readjustment which will start at the bottom. I hold these truths to be self evident....
Question is, when?

[plaques]

The current raft of internet billionaires initially had a good idea and made their millions, I have no problem with this success. After getting to this point they can employ the best analysts, programmers, lawyers, market managers, investment mangers, the list goes on. In effect the extra money they make to take them to billionaire status is using the brain power of others. At this point they lose the self made man status and become simply employers of people. Some squeeze everybody as much as possible while others pay decent wages and turn to philanthropy as an outlet for their excess profits. In the UK there are quite a number of wealthy people who give their money to good causes but we seldom hear about it. We have to be careful in not class everyone as bloated capitalists but certainly shout when greed comes to the surface.

[Tizer]

I agree with you about the early innovation and startup period, Plaques, but then it goes bad. Just look at how the social media platforms are full of scams and misinformation and the way companies like Amazon exploit workers. Bezos et al make mega fortunes out of doing a lot of bad as well as the early good bits.

[Tripps]

and the way companies like Amazon exploit workers.

That can't be right? My TV is full of adverts showing really happy workers proud to be part of the wonderful world of Amazon - getting these vital parcels to your door. Hours cleverly arranged to suit your circumstances, and even the odd Polish worker.

[Stanley]

David, you've put your finger on one of my current pet hates. Who the hell do they think they are kidding?
I saw a report yesterday that they have tweaked their internal camera system with some software that logs who talks to whom. They say it's for Covid virus tracing..... Really?

[Tizer]

We've been neglecting our duty to criticise the banks but there's plenty of reasons out there now...
`Banks urge 'student loans style' plan to avoid job cuts' LINK
Unfortunately we remember how the Student Loans Company has sold their loans to commercial businesses. This new suggestion is for HMRC to handle the covid loans but I expect we'll be seeing them copying the SLC tactic and selling them on. Selling loans without the permission of the borroweer should be banned.

[Stanley]

That caught my attention as well Peter. The banks urging the government (taxpayer) to take on the risk of unpaid loans. Could it have something to do with profits and dividends? Surely not.....

[Stanley]

Is it my imagination or are the announcements about planned shedding of staff by large firms a rising tide?
Interesting that M&S are not cutting shop floor staff but confining the redundancies to management. Is this, plus working from home and the falling demand for city centre office space, the 'New Normal'?

[plaques]

Is it my imagination or are the announcements about planned shedding of staff by large firms a rising tide?

To be honest what else can they do. Covid has changed working practices beyond imagination. The signs are we are heading out of the EU without a deal, Trade with the rest of the world is unknown territory with each country trying to take advantage of our weakened position. Trump and the lose cannon Republicans pushing for trades deals to give them complete hegemony over who we trade with and what terms and conditions they care to impose. Not a position I would like to be facing if I owned a manufacturing business. The likely outcome is downwards for the 99% and upwards for the 1%.

[Tizer]

It is a rising tide of job losses, inevitable under the present circumstances, but these circumstances could have been avoided if our politicians over the last 20 to 30 years had listened to what the scientists and medics were telling them and acted on it.

By the way, the big businesses don't miss a trick, they're always on the ball. The two biggest cruise ship companies, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, have between them received hundreds of millions of pounds of our money in covid resilience funds. Yet they each paid only about 2% UK tax last year due to clever overseas tax haven dodges (normal UK rate 19%). The government should have let them stew or at least demanded an agreement that they pay full UK tax rate in future.

[Stanley]

Good posts and I agree with both of you.
Re. the cruise lines, I saw that report as well Peter. Also many firms benefiting from 'fourloughing' are foreign owned and exporting their profits in the form of high interest payments on 'loans' from the parent off-shore companies.
What grabbed me yesterday in the IC report on Russia is their attention to the laundering of Russian money in London. Anyone who reads Private Eye has been aware of this for years. There is also the murky connection between Putin-favoured oligarchs, the media and sport and political party funding, also chronicled ad infinitum in PE.
As Ken said yesterday, 'follow the money'.

[chinatyke]

Got a notification this morning that "my" branch of HSBC is closing down (Wallasey) and my account is being moved to Birkenhead. I'm guessing it is the result of more and more people doing all their banking on line and a sign of the state of the High Street. Last time I visited the branch was around 12 years ago.

[Stanley]

That experience is far too common China, my bank is now in Burnley. That's why I do all my transactions by snail mail and up to press it has worked fine.
In the discussions about the IC Intelligence report I note that Johnson is keeping well away from the amount of Russian money that has ended up in Tory Party funding via domiciled oligarchs. His stock line is that we have 'world beating' standards in our banking system. Really?