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The Anton Coaker column thread
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<blockquote data-quote="Anton Coaker Blog" data-source="post: 7486723" data-attributes="member: 152737"><p><strong>Selling off Nat West </strong></p><p></p><p>I note the Gov is planning to sell off a chunk of their share of the Nat West Bank. You’ll recall, this was acquired as some kind of emergency bailout, after the credit crunch in 2007-2008. Several –most- banks had been gambling on ridiculously complex markets, whilst lending insane amounts of money to the most fickle of requests. Whole tranches of the banking sector were an over-extended fragile web of stupidity. And as casualties started to look likely, the Treasury stepped in to scoop up various outfits which were close to toppling.</p><p>I was storing my meagre holiday fund with a bank that was barely paying me anything to borrow these savings, but using them to leverage what were evidently absurd risks –presumably paying themselves whopping great bonus’s for their cleverness. It was then partly bought out by….well, me the taxpayer. Worse, I’d then have to pay extra tax to pay myself back. To help do this, the clever chaps round at the Treasury printed a whole lot of funny money, and lent it to yet more people who probably weren’t fit to borrow it. This inevitably devalued what I had to start with.</p><p>I hope you’re following this, because I got lost about then….but I was pretty sure I’d been done over. </p><p>You might have your own views on all of this. Possibly, like me, you might observewith despair the global infatuation with living on borrowed money, which had risen once more to stupidly dangerous levels before the Covid pandemic came along. It mystifies me….there’s apparently no prudence whatsoever. The world and his dog seem to think you can climb a rope ladder that you’re holding up at the same time. And now, we’re left with debts beyond any kind of reason, both personal and national, and a complete reliance on interest rates remaining on the floor – possibly below it. </p><p> Meanwhile, as someone points out to me, it rather appears that there’s massive inflation in several sectors, which is somehow remaining hidden from the headline figures. This is hardly surprising, as the aforementioned ‘quantative easing’ those scamps at the Treasury so love –remember they’re mostly former bankers themselves- can only push things one way. It’s hard to say whether Brexit, or Covid, or goodness knows what is to blame, but I’ve seen 20% jumps in the price of several commodities I’m involved in. Mostly these jumps are in honest solid goods, rather than the ethereal morning dew so beloved of the City. So on general principals, I approve of this latest turn of events. </p><p>I can’t say whether these jumps will be sustained, should some kind of normality ever return, and how it will change the board game. I’m pretty sure the establishment will do anything- absolutely anything- to avoid any kind of crash. The stakes are too high again, and the carnage is barely imaginable. Meanwhile, those of us who’ve played it safe are left in the bizarre position of rather fancying such a crash. See, I want some kind of reward for having been such a stabilising influence on the otherwise fickle morons, and I sure ain’t been getting much reward of late. </p><p> Meanwhile, on more important matters out in the mud and the rain, my immediate thoughts are rather more focussed on the changing seasons. My South Devon cows begin to ‘bag up’, and get all swollen and wobbly behind, with great round bellies swinging as they meander over to meet me mornings. For spring calving is upon us at any moment, with all the joys, stresses, toil and reward it brings. </p><p>One group have insisted that they’d rather be loafing across the valley by the main road. The barest of green bites there must be sweeter than the bales I’m offering, as they’re going hungry to enjoy it rather than scoff to their hearts content at the feeders. We pulled them all back close to the yard this week, and shut them on some inbye to keep an eye on them. Driving their swaying orange bodies back through the colour matched bracken litter, amid the boulders and the budding gorse, they stopped to drink as they forded the Dart. And it was as satisfactory a way to spend a timelesshour as ever.</p><p>The ewes aren’t far behind, round as barrels with a new crop of lambs due in 2-3 weeks, so I’ll be fetching them back from keep, and off the hill, to be close by in the next week or so. The Galloway cows are a month off yet, but altering now, and mustering for their respective launch onto the high ground. </p><p>These are the things I really value. Money is just paper in the end.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Anton Coaker Blog, post: 7486723, member: 152737"] [B]Selling off Nat West [/B] I note the Gov is planning to sell off a chunk of their share of the Nat West Bank. You’ll recall, this was acquired as some kind of emergency bailout, after the credit crunch in 2007-2008. Several –most- banks had been gambling on ridiculously complex markets, whilst lending insane amounts of money to the most fickle of requests. Whole tranches of the banking sector were an over-extended fragile web of stupidity. And as casualties started to look likely, the Treasury stepped in to scoop up various outfits which were close to toppling. I was storing my meagre holiday fund with a bank that was barely paying me anything to borrow these savings, but using them to leverage what were evidently absurd risks –presumably paying themselves whopping great bonus’s for their cleverness. It was then partly bought out by….well, me the taxpayer. Worse, I’d then have to pay extra tax to pay myself back. To help do this, the clever chaps round at the Treasury printed a whole lot of funny money, and lent it to yet more people who probably weren’t fit to borrow it. This inevitably devalued what I had to start with. I hope you’re following this, because I got lost about then….but I was pretty sure I’d been done over. You might have your own views on all of this. Possibly, like me, you might observewith despair the global infatuation with living on borrowed money, which had risen once more to stupidly dangerous levels before the Covid pandemic came along. It mystifies me….there’s apparently no prudence whatsoever. The world and his dog seem to think you can climb a rope ladder that you’re holding up at the same time. And now, we’re left with debts beyond any kind of reason, both personal and national, and a complete reliance on interest rates remaining on the floor – possibly below it. Meanwhile, as someone points out to me, it rather appears that there’s massive inflation in several sectors, which is somehow remaining hidden from the headline figures. This is hardly surprising, as the aforementioned ‘quantative easing’ those scamps at the Treasury so love –remember they’re mostly former bankers themselves- can only push things one way. It’s hard to say whether Brexit, or Covid, or goodness knows what is to blame, but I’ve seen 20% jumps in the price of several commodities I’m involved in. Mostly these jumps are in honest solid goods, rather than the ethereal morning dew so beloved of the City. So on general principals, I approve of this latest turn of events. I can’t say whether these jumps will be sustained, should some kind of normality ever return, and how it will change the board game. I’m pretty sure the establishment will do anything- absolutely anything- to avoid any kind of crash. The stakes are too high again, and the carnage is barely imaginable. Meanwhile, those of us who’ve played it safe are left in the bizarre position of rather fancying such a crash. See, I want some kind of reward for having been such a stabilising influence on the otherwise fickle morons, and I sure ain’t been getting much reward of late. Meanwhile, on more important matters out in the mud and the rain, my immediate thoughts are rather more focussed on the changing seasons. My South Devon cows begin to ‘bag up’, and get all swollen and wobbly behind, with great round bellies swinging as they meander over to meet me mornings. For spring calving is upon us at any moment, with all the joys, stresses, toil and reward it brings. One group have insisted that they’d rather be loafing across the valley by the main road. The barest of green bites there must be sweeter than the bales I’m offering, as they’re going hungry to enjoy it rather than scoff to their hearts content at the feeders. We pulled them all back close to the yard this week, and shut them on some inbye to keep an eye on them. Driving their swaying orange bodies back through the colour matched bracken litter, amid the boulders and the budding gorse, they stopped to drink as they forded the Dart. And it was as satisfactory a way to spend a timelesshour as ever. The ewes aren’t far behind, round as barrels with a new crop of lambs due in 2-3 weeks, so I’ll be fetching them back from keep, and off the hill, to be close by in the next week or so. The Galloway cows are a month off yet, but altering now, and mustering for their respective launch onto the high ground. These are the things I really value. Money is just paper in the end. [/QUOTE]
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