Desperate times
The planned £16,000,000,000 sale of the 'non-financial' assets held by central and local Government is nothing if not a desperate attempt to plug the enormous hole in the economy.
A hole created (or at very least encouraged) by Gordon Brown himself.
The sheer desperation is dispiriting, indicating as it does that the problem is even deeper than they are letting on.
But the noxious smell of sulphur indicates that dirty politics are at work here, and not genuine economic thought:
Vince Cable has the best take on this,and I am in total agreement with him:
It is a buyer's market, and the public are going to be scalped in these deals. But what is that cost in comparison to the possibility of re-election.
A hole created (or at very least encouraged) by Gordon Brown himself.
The sheer desperation is dispiriting, indicating as it does that the problem is even deeper than they are letting on.
But the noxious smell of sulphur indicates that dirty politics are at work here, and not genuine economic thought:
Ahead of the speech Lord Mandelson told BBC Radio 4's Today the sell-offs, which he said was an alternative to "savage" cuts planned by the Conservatives, could include local authority-owned airports.Yes, it is all party political, not what is best for you and I. The ground for the main battlefield of the next election is already being laid. And it consists of (as Labour will portray it) sensible measures already taken to help the economy recover versus selling your granny to an organ farm.
Vince Cable has the best take on this,and I am in total agreement with him:
"What worries me about the government proposal is that they're proposing to sell off in very depressed markets, under very depressed markets for land and for shares."Who can forget Brown's masterly sale of the UK Gold Reserves at $300 per ounce between 1999 and 2002. Gold now stands at £1,050 for the self-same oz.
It is a buyer's market, and the public are going to be scalped in these deals. But what is that cost in comparison to the possibility of re-election.
4 comments:
How much does the UK govt. actually own of the bailed out banks? If it is 67% of RBS how many shares is that worth at 60p a share and how much will it be worth in 5 to 10 years time if shares climbe to anywhere near even half their value before the crash? RBS shares were trading at £15 a share before they bought the dutch bank - what value of RBS if shares ever reach even £5 a share? And if Gordon sells off the roads (Dartford crossing first) will the Road Tax have to be abolished?
Once the big property sell-off starts, there'll be chains of Chinese takeaways in every council building in the land. The Chinese seem to be the only country who have plenty reserves to buy at what will be knock down basement prices - just as happened to the gold sell-off.
It's Gordon's Car Boot Sale time again... :-(
6.50pm
If the RBS share price goes above 50.5p, the governement starts making a profit of approx £400 million on its holding per 1p rise. At the moment, the share price is 47p. If it ever reached £5 per share, the government (ie taxpayer) would make a £180 billion profit. But the shares will be sold long before then...
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