northern-rock

Remember when Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, was all about applying ‘Moral Hazard’ to the banking system? You know, the idea that some banks had to fail to teach others not to make dodgy lending decisions? You can be sure King remembers making statements on risky lending like this: “The provision of [...]

We can’t wish away the credit crisis. However sensible you or I have been with our investments, borrowing and spending, we can’t wind back the clock and stop bankers throwing money at poor people who’ll never be able to pay it back, and who are often now paying a far higher price – repossession, dislocation, [...]

Am I the only investor sick of hearing financial industry insiders bleating that the US Federal Reserve must do more to ease their pain? Am I the only stock market investor who would like to see the world’s major indices fall hard to purge and punish the companies – and policies – that set the [...]

After five months of tough talk, roundabout action and general chicken-sans-headery, the Government has ‘decided’ to nationalise Northern Rock. (Yes, in the same way that I ‘decided’ to start losing my hair). The authorities responsible for dealing with the Northern Rock’s collapse have been making poor precedent-setting decisions since day one of this pantomime. None [...]

Last night Alastair Darling, the UK Chancellor, guaranteed 100% of savings in Northern Rock – and indeed the Financial Services Authority has since gone further, stating this guarantee extends to other troubled financial institutions that might emerge in coming days. Given the scenes we’ve witnessed since Thursday’s news that Northern Rock required a lifeline from [...]

As I write, people are queuing outside a major British lender, Northern Rock, to take all their money out. Only in Britain would a run on a bank see customers forming an orderly line from the back. Reading comments in the press, it’s clearly something that many people never expected to see in their lifetimes. [...]