It's like giving a plaster to someone who's been shot
Discussion
I can't be the only person sitting on PH because there is bugger all happening at work.
I work in the motor trade, i've had the worst September i've ever had, October has been even worse, i work with a big volume franchise and ive not even broken double figures.
I read in the paper this morning how the government are going throw money at the public sector to prop up the economy and to 'put faith' back to the man on the street.
Now, call me whatever you like, but i cannot see how this is going to work, in the last 11 years there has been an explosion of jobs in the public sector, is the government's view 'if they work for us there won't be any unemployment'?
Consumer confidence is shot to hell, and to be honest its not a great shock as who knows if they wake up tomorrow everything they've worked for could be taken away.
So who's fault is it? The banks for unscrupulous lending, The government for a lack of regulation in the banking sector? The media for hyping it up beyond all recognition? Or is it the the man and woman on the street?
Could it be all the above? possibly. The culture of buy now pay later, 0% finance, credit cards, 100% mortgages.
To give a little example a friend of mine's little brother applied for a credit card when he was 18 and earning £12k PA. Now what responsible lender gives an 18yo a credit card with a £4000 limit? you can guess the rest, he maxed it and has now defaulted on the money because he can't afford to pay it as the interest rate has crept up and up.
TBH the banks have kind of got what they deserved in many ways, but as the title says throwing money at the problem won't make it go away.
I don't want this to go on and on like a proper old man rant, and much as i like reading and posting on PH i would rather be earning some money to pay my own bills, and i can't see the government helping me one iota.
I work in the motor trade, i've had the worst September i've ever had, October has been even worse, i work with a big volume franchise and ive not even broken double figures.
I read in the paper this morning how the government are going throw money at the public sector to prop up the economy and to 'put faith' back to the man on the street.
Now, call me whatever you like, but i cannot see how this is going to work, in the last 11 years there has been an explosion of jobs in the public sector, is the government's view 'if they work for us there won't be any unemployment'?
Consumer confidence is shot to hell, and to be honest its not a great shock as who knows if they wake up tomorrow everything they've worked for could be taken away.
So who's fault is it? The banks for unscrupulous lending, The government for a lack of regulation in the banking sector? The media for hyping it up beyond all recognition? Or is it the the man and woman on the street?
Could it be all the above? possibly. The culture of buy now pay later, 0% finance, credit cards, 100% mortgages.
To give a little example a friend of mine's little brother applied for a credit card when he was 18 and earning £12k PA. Now what responsible lender gives an 18yo a credit card with a £4000 limit? you can guess the rest, he maxed it and has now defaulted on the money because he can't afford to pay it as the interest rate has crept up and up.
TBH the banks have kind of got what they deserved in many ways, but as the title says throwing money at the problem won't make it go away.
I don't want this to go on and on like a proper old man rant, and much as i like reading and posting on PH i would rather be earning some money to pay my own bills, and i can't see the government helping me one iota.
Who's to blame? I'm afraid it's everyone.
Banks lending to unsuitable punters, People taking out loans they can't afford, Government deregulating the banking industry too much, short sellers moving in and doing what they do best.etc.etc.etc.
No one group can take the blame. Everyone has been stupid.
Except me of course!
Banks lending to unsuitable punters, People taking out loans they can't afford, Government deregulating the banking industry too much, short sellers moving in and doing what they do best.etc.etc.etc.
No one group can take the blame. Everyone has been stupid.
Except me of course!
I have noted the letters i used to get from my bank offering me cheap loans have stopped, still get the credit card ones though.
We are all to blame though, riding an economic bubble that was bound to burst sooner or later.
One thing did make me laugh yesterday was the boy who married Anthea Turner boasted last year buy-to-let property would make him a billionaire, now its all gone tits up.
Karma's a b
d!
We are all to blame though, riding an economic bubble that was bound to burst sooner or later.
One thing did make me laugh yesterday was the boy who married Anthea Turner boasted last year buy-to-let property would make him a billionaire, now its all gone tits up.
Karma's a b
d!LHDisbest said:
So who's fault is it? The banks for unscrupulous lending, The government for a lack of regulation in the banking sector? The media for hyping it up beyond all recognition? Or is it the the man and woman on the street?
I have to say that I believe it is a combination, as you also suggest. However, I do get increasingly concerned about the media. They are really hyping this to oblivion. Yes we have had recessions before and we have had the media. But we haven't had the media like this before.... and I can only fear that its going to get a lot worse on our TV's before it gets better, even if we are all happy in our jobs.Take my mother. She is sitting pretty on a nice pension and a few state benefits, in a house she owns and plenty of savings. In fact, she makes money on a monthly basis given the little she actually spends. But even she said to me yesterday about that she should be careful, "because that is what the media are saying".
I had to be honest and say that for her it doesn't bloody matter. She has a pension, plenty of money and no mortgage, there is NOTHING to be concerned about for her. So she shouldn't curtail her spending because Sky bloody news says she should.
The impact of the media should NOT be underestimated - they are uncontrolled and unhindered in their hype. Never underestimate what they are doing to the average man in the street.
The more and more you see in the media seems to think we're going to be plunged back into the dark ages.
As the point has been made, only if everything in your life is on the never never then it could bite hard.
The media in this country are the worst in the world with their sensational journalism.
A friend of mine is a freelance investigative journalist and her viewpoint is 'If it sells papers, then who cares what the subject is about' and that unfortunatly is what its about.
As the point has been made, only if everything in your life is on the never never then it could bite hard.
The media in this country are the worst in the world with their sensational journalism.
A friend of mine is a freelance investigative journalist and her viewpoint is 'If it sells papers, then who cares what the subject is about' and that unfortunatly is what its about.
off_again said:
The impact of the media should NOT be underestimated - they are uncontrolled and unhindered in their hype. Never underestimate what they are doing to the average man in the street.
I have been saying this for some time now about many subjects.
And anyone who says they don't care what they print just so long as it sells papers is living in another dream world. They don't care what they say so long as it influences the populace and others and continues to do so. From that the money will flow, but more importantly, the power.
off_again said:
I had to be honest and say that for her it doesn't bloody matter. She has a pension, plenty of money and no mortgage, there is NOTHING to be concerned about for her. So she shouldn't curtail her spending because Sky bloody news says she should.
While she shouldn't worry about it, it is people like her with lots of savings and no debt that will actually be hit hardest if inflation gets out of control.Whose fault? It's a stock market system which employs lots of people to work out how good a company's next figures will be and then is disappointed when they are only that good, and the share price drops.
This leads every company to try and outperform expectations and they need to do it every quarter which makes everything short term.
So the banks took undue risks to try and keep ahead of an impossibly moving target.
The first thing that needs to stop is quarterly reporting, it should go to annual.
The second thing is for companies to realise that shareholders are symbiotic parasites. They are a useful source of funds but they only attach themselves if you are healthy. Keeping healthy is more important than attracting them.
Asian companies tend to take a five or seven year outlook, and do much better than the America ones that only look three month ahead.
This leads every company to try and outperform expectations and they need to do it every quarter which makes everything short term.
So the banks took undue risks to try and keep ahead of an impossibly moving target.
The first thing that needs to stop is quarterly reporting, it should go to annual.
The second thing is for companies to realise that shareholders are symbiotic parasites. They are a useful source of funds but they only attach themselves if you are healthy. Keeping healthy is more important than attracting them.
Asian companies tend to take a five or seven year outlook, and do much better than the America ones that only look three month ahead.
haworthlloyd1 said:
i sympathise with you but i have to say that i disagree in many ways.
people for some reason think that banks are a charity - they are a business and have shareholders and exist to make a profit
i think a lot of the blame is with the customer/consumer - is giving someone who is 18 and likely to be living at home and earning around £850 per month net £4,000 on a credit card unreasonable? I think it isn't personally and if he couldn't afford it then he shouldn't borrow it. Its a little harsh as he is 18 but he is old enough to fight in a war, gamble, have sex, drink alcohol and old enough to vote so i think it is his own fault.
its the consumer that wanted the flat screen tv, the bigger house, the newly registered car, designer clothes, holidays abroad etc.
I used to work in banks but i dislike them for unsavoury practices which is why i left - therefore my post is a little conflicting - i think my point is that it is partly the banks fault, but the customers too. The banks build products such as loans and credit cards because there is a demand for them.
I know what your saying, but as you say there are unsavoury practices at work, and i appriciate that a bank is there to make money for their shareholders, however 25 years ago a kid that age would never have been given the acess to that kind of unsecured borrowing.people for some reason think that banks are a charity - they are a business and have shareholders and exist to make a profit
i think a lot of the blame is with the customer/consumer - is giving someone who is 18 and likely to be living at home and earning around £850 per month net £4,000 on a credit card unreasonable? I think it isn't personally and if he couldn't afford it then he shouldn't borrow it. Its a little harsh as he is 18 but he is old enough to fight in a war, gamble, have sex, drink alcohol and old enough to vote so i think it is his own fault.
its the consumer that wanted the flat screen tv, the bigger house, the newly registered car, designer clothes, holidays abroad etc.
I used to work in banks but i dislike them for unsavoury practices which is why i left - therefore my post is a little conflicting - i think my point is that it is partly the banks fault, but the customers too. The banks build products such as loans and credit cards because there is a demand for them.
One thing i do hope is that if anyone is made redundant they take full advantage of their payment protection schemes. I personally got wired for this with my first car loan and paid back a s
tload more than i should of, but thats my fault for not reading and fully understanding what i was signing.I went into a Vauxhall dealership yesterday just for an idea of what deal I could get, as I am hoping to be offered a new job this week which will require a car. He offered to knock £4 grand off the price of an Astra and more off a Vectra, and that was before any bargaining that will be done if and when I am in a position to buy. It seems they can't give then away at present. Must admit for all the bad press main dealers get on here, the bloke I spoke to yesterday was top draw, even more so when you consider I told that I wasn't ready to buy yet.
IforB said:
Who's to blame? I'm afraid it's everyone.
Banks lending to unsuitable punters, People taking out loans they can't afford, Government deregulating the banking industry too much, short sellers moving in and doing what they do best.etc.etc.etc.
No one group can take the blame. Everyone has been stupid.
Except me of course!
How very dare you! I spend all my cash as fast as I earn it! I'm basically holding up the whole economy on my own (well, the booze, fags and meat sections anyway...). I have total comsumer confidence Banks lending to unsuitable punters, People taking out loans they can't afford, Government deregulating the banking industry too much, short sellers moving in and doing what they do best.etc.etc.etc.
No one group can take the blame. Everyone has been stupid.
Except me of course!
hugoagogo said:
LHDisbest said:
I work in the motor trade..... i work with a big volume franchise
...........
.... The culture of buy now pay later, 0% finance, credit cards, 100% mortgages.
of course, car dealers didn't take any part in all this...........
.... The culture of buy now pay later, 0% finance, credit cards, 100% mortgages.
hugoagogo said:
LHDisbest said:
I work in the motor trade..... i work with a big volume franchise
...........
.... The culture of buy now pay later, 0% finance, credit cards, 100% mortgages.
of course, car dealers didn't take any part in all this...........
.... The culture of buy now pay later, 0% finance, credit cards, 100% mortgages.
I'm not giving it a holier than thou attitude by all means, but at the rate things are going, a career change could be on the cards as most guys in the motor trade can't make a living just now.
Iain H said:
I went into a Vauxhall dealership yesterday just for an idea of what deal I could get, as I am hoping to be offered a new job this week which will require a car. He offered to knock £4 grand off the price of an Astra and more off a Vectra, and that was before any bargaining that will be done if and when I am in a position to buy. It seems they can't give then away at present. Must admit for all the bad press main dealers get on here, the bloke I spoke to yesterday was top draw, even more so when you consider I told that I wasn't ready to buy yet.
So you're getting a VXR8?Donut said:
hugoagogo said:
LHDisbest said:
I work in the motor trade..... i work with a big volume franchise
...........
.... The culture of buy now pay later, 0% finance, credit cards, 100% mortgages.
of course, car dealers didn't take any part in all this...........
.... The culture of buy now pay later, 0% finance, credit cards, 100% mortgages.
Where's the little voice in these people's heads which says 'I can't afford this'?
Yertis said:
Iain H said:
I went into a Vauxhall dealership yesterday just for an idea of what deal I could get, as I am hoping to be offered a new job this week which will require a car. He offered to knock £4 grand off the price of an Astra and more off a Vectra, and that was before any bargaining that will be done if and when I am in a position to buy. It seems they can't give then away at present. Must admit for all the bad press main dealers get on here, the bloke I spoke to yesterday was top draw, even more so when you consider I told that I wasn't ready to buy yet.
So you're getting a VXR8?Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff