Inflation Rescue

Liam Halligan wrote,

For what we're doing instead is surely a folly of historic proportions. The Bank of England is about to start printing money. We're piling government debt on top of debt. Our leaders seem to have decided that the only solution is to inflate away the UK's crippling liabilities – while spinning a yarn the danger is deflation instead.

Well, the money market won't have it. The UK's foreign creditors, in particular, won't buy gilts if they see our currency being debauched. Then we'll be in serious trouble – facing an IMF bail-out and with our credit rating shot. But don't worry – the bankers will still get their bonus …

Reckless Banking

Liam Halligan wrote,

We need desperately to re-impose the split between commercial banks (where you and I deposit money, and which then lend to ordinary businesses) and investment banks (which carry-out higher risk strategies).

The removal of the "Glass-Steagall" firewall in both the US and UK is the prime reason for the current crisis. By merging with commercial banks, leveraging their taxpayer-guaranteed deposits and using them to place reckless bets, the investment banks have destroyed the financial strength of the Western world. Any schoolboy economist can see that. Why can't Gordon Brown or Barack Obama?