You are absolutely correct that the middle classes are taking the biggest hit. However I did not accuse the bankers of stealing but of mismanagement. In the States you had your Sub Prime crisis but in the UK most of our banks ended up in public ownership as part of the bail out. In our case the banks failed as their asset base had been allowed to diminish so that they were unable to ride the storm. The recovery is taking a while as they are having to pay millions in compensation in respect of insurance miss selling. Despite this they are still expecting bonuses!
OK, same here. Our "subprime mortgage " disaster, had to have home buyers complicit in the scheme, before it could ruin our economy. In other words, people who couldn't afford a house, had to go ahead and buy them anyway. And a bunch of greedy mutts, had to lend them the money to get in over their heads.
The "variable rate" scam, just reared it's head with our people's electric bills. As soon as the citizens of PA were allowed to shop for an electric supplier, platoons of "electricty salesmen" hit the streets with glorious stories of how much people were going to save, by getting their power from," XYZ Power International". And of course, many customers chose a "variable rate plan", because it was so darn cheap in the month they signed the contract. Of course, the coldest month of the year, the price for a KWH of electricity, multiplied by 2 1/2 fold, pushing the normally $300.00 electric bill to $800.00. So yeah, that's the variable rate mortgage ripoff, just applied to a different commodity.
All of that notwithstanding, considering the level of fraud and theft on the part of bank execs, a suitable punishment for which, should actually be raised to a capital offense.
This is another reason I have a deep seated hatred of our public broadcasting system. They give people a voice, that tell BS stories like this; "we put $3,000.00 down, on a $400,000.00 house that we can't afford to pay for, and now we're going to sue Wells Fargo for giving us the mortgage". I'd say to them, why don't you skip the lawsuit, and go borrow your next house payment from a Nigerian prince. No one in America is responsible for their own actions. It's always the fault of someone else. You'd think they'd be too embarrassed to have their abject stupidity broadcast, but no, they're entirely shameless.
Judging from your comments I suspect we must have a different interpretation of what constitutes Welfare.
My
"welfare" is your
"dole"
In the UK I think the balance is about right. We do pay National Insurance Contributions out of our salary in return we get free healthcare, unemployment benefit and the state pension.
Your
"state pension" is our,
"social security". And it too, is supposed to be retirement income. The trouble here is, they're getting illegitimate children put on it at birth. Why, you ask? Because they're, "entitled to it". So, yes really, we have a chunk of the population that effectively retires at birth, and battalions of lawyers that specialize in making it happen for them.
Under that systems some benefit more than others but overall it is fair. It is far from perfect and I am concerned about cuts in budgets that will make things worse for all. What we need is for the Government to spend more on capital projects to kickstart a sustainable recovery not one just based on retail.
OK,, a "sustainable recovery", is not entirely possible, within the modern day social structure,employment opportunities, or even the willingness to work, of most modern day Brits or Americans..
You, or rather we, have nothing but a majority of people that take from the system. If you're not going to support your money with silver or gold, then your have to inject manufactured goods, products for sale abroad, grow stuff on farms, chop down trees, or frack for natural gas. I realize that modern day economics aren't that simple to explain. I also realize that modern economics aren't the gross distortions of fact that economists, politicians, and real estate developers portray them as either. Most of the crap circulating about our economies, makes fairy tales seem like documentaries.
A "lawyer", is a parasite that drains the system. There are hosts of other employment categories that fit into that same description. In fact, large cities are full to the brim with them. And they siphon off the "currency", that farmers, lumberjacks, fishermen and even oilmen create.
The world situation created in, "The Hunger Games", really isn't as far from the truth, as most people would like to comfort themselves by believing it is.
And to put this rant back on topic, telecom execs, and the companies they represent, have become some of the biggest parasites of all!
