BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

[Stanley]

I have a feeling a lot of smart operators will be coming in under the radar as everyone is preoccupied with health matters. Remember 'a good day for bad news'?

[Tizer]

There's a move afoot to block any government funds going to people or businesses that have their abode `offshore' to avoid or minimise paying their taxes. Sounds a good idea to me!

[Whyperion]

There's a move afoot to block any government funds going to people or businesses that have their abode `offshore' to avoid or minimise paying their taxes. Sounds a good idea to me!

Tricky though when they do employ persons in the UK. I would have set up a volunteer / secondment website or database to enable healthy staff in businessess where the customer base had disappeared to transfer to a local or national need with their pay being shared between old employer , new employer and the govt.

[Stanley]

I think they are already working on those lines Tiz. Branson hasn't paid any UK taxes for years and he is getting to cold shoulder.

[Tizer]

And these banks are the ones who we, the public, bailed out in the credit crunch...
`'I'm living on cards': The firms waiting for emergency loans' LINK
`Businesses are still struggling to access government-backed loans from their banks..'.

[Stanley]

That's been my impression as well Tiz. Add in the millions of families who are doing the same just to survive. One of the matters that economists like Joseph Stiglitz keep reminding us about is the fact that total debt was higher before Covid than in the 2008 crisis and the impact of the pandemic must have pushed it even higher. I wonder where the real money is? (If there is any...)

[Tizer]

I wonder where the real money is? (If there is any...)

In Dyson's pocket apparently.
`Sir James Dyson named UK's richest person for first time: The entrepreneur’s rise comes as Britain’s super-rich lose more than £54bn in two months due to Covid-19' LINK

[PanBiker]

In Dyson's pocket apparently.
`Sir James Dyson named UK's richest person for first time:

Most of it based on peddling and perpetuating the myth of his "digital motor". A motor regardless of how it is made cannot be digital.

[chinatyke]

In Dyson's pocket apparently.
`Sir James Dyson named UK's richest person for first time:

Most of it based on peddling and perpetuating the myth of his "digital motor". A motor regardless of how it is made cannot be digital.

Digital because it only has only 2 states? ON and OFF

He sells a lot of very over priced goods. Like £400 for a bladeless fan! People must buy them so good luck to him.

[Stanley]

I saw that report as well Tiz. I don't begrudge Dyson his success, he made money out of backing his own innovations. We need more of that however it's done.
Nice one China!

[Stanley]

One of the things that constantly enrages me is the way some foreign owned companies, while paying lip service to liability for UK tax ensure that they make very little or no profit by the parent company in a tax haven lending money at exorbitant rates of interest to the UK operation, sometimes as high as 20% but always at non-commercial rates. This ensures that very little, perhaps no tax is paid. This is widespread and why don't we shut the loophole down?
We need that income as never before. It is obscene to impose austerity on the poorest and leave these sharks secure.

[Whyperion]

One of the things that constantly enrages me is the way some foreign owned companies, while paying lip service to liability for UK tax ensure that they make very little or no profit by the parent company in a tax haven lending money at exorbitant rates of interest to the UK operation, sometimes as high as 20% but always at non-commercial rates. This ensures that very little, perhaps no tax is paid. This is widespread and why don't we shut the loophole down?
We need that income as never before. It is obscene to impose austerity on the poorest and leave these sharks secure.

i am fairly confident in General Anti-Avoidence Regulations that along with transfer pricing , interest transfers at non-commercial interest rates are adjusted in the taxable income returns.

[Stanley]

Dream on!

[Stanley]

See THIS New York Times report that Herz car rental has filed for protection against bankruptcy proceedings due to the collapse of the market and high debt levels.
Another straw in the wind of the effects Covid is having on all types of service industries. We will see a lot more of this....

[Whyperion]

Someone will pick up the fire sale remnants in due course and make large amounts, at the expense of pension funds, employees, landlords, and present investors. Roll on the capitalist free market.

[Stanley]

See THIS Daily Mail report on the latest developments in the Post Office Horizon scandal. It would appear that the net is being cast much wider and a further 900 might be added to those seeking redress for what has been a long ongoing scandal which showed the PO management as totally incompetent, vindictive and culpable. Only now is this surfacing and this could be one of the biggest such cases ever.
Old Farts like me and Tiz have been raging about this for years. It looks as though we might have been right Tiz!

[Stanley]

The BBC are running a very good series of programmes detailing the Horizon scandal Well worth listening to.
Looking into my crystal ball and trying to guess what is coming over the horizon my mind keeps going to a series of terminations of government support like paying workers to do nothing, the end of rent holidays, the end of prohibition of evictions etc. Then there is the normal matter of rent deadlines, the end of mortgage holidays and temporary tax concessions.
These are going to combine with the stress of restarting businesses and the overall problem of diminished demand in the economy, Brexit deadlines and as always 'Events Dear Boy'.
It doesn't matter how you shuffle the cards it is hard to see how any sort of soft landing or resurgence in the economy can happen. I can't see any chance of anything but an almighty mess by the end of the year. Sorry, but that's how it looks to me.
( It would be nice if I had any confidence in the ability and motivations of our leaders but I see no reason for optimism there!)

[Stanley]

Tizer raised the matter of bit coin traders hacking computers to do their 'mining' in order to make money. This reminded me of Marx and that took me into 'phantom money'. From there I progressed to the way the world economy functions on credit and debt at levels unequalled in world history.
Is it any wonder that we are in such a mess?

[Stanley]

Thinking about debt and poverty. The runes are not good. We are seeing increasing numbers of redundancy as furloughed workers are 'let go'. The CEO of Reeds, the employment agency was on Today this morning and he says that he can see signs of 1930s levels of unemployment on the horizon. (May is expected to see 8 million jobs lost.)
Then there is the looming end of support for tenants at the end of June. Freedom from eviction, rent and rates holidays and other measures come to an end. Housing and homelessness is expected to be high on the agenda in the news.
Add the rent deadline for many retailers and the damage that has been done during the lockdown to cash flows and capital and some very hard decisions are going to have to be made.
The support for industry and trade was, in affect, kicking the can down the road until Autumn. Pigeons are going to come home to roost.

[Tizer]

`HSBC and StanChart back China security laws for HK' LINK
HSBC and Standard Chartered have given their backing to China's new security laws for Hong Kong. Both banks made statements saying the proposed law can help maintain long-term stability in the troubled city. On Wednesday, HSBC's Asia Pacific chief executive Peter Wong signed a petition backing the law which has been widely criticised. But this backing comes as Japanese bank Nomura said it was "seriously" examining its presence in Hong Kong. It is unusual for a bank to enter into political debate, particularly one as controversial as China's new security laws which many feel could mark the end of Hong Kong's unique freedoms. HSBC's statement noted that the Hong Kong Association of Banks had already issued a statement saying the law would contribute to a stable business environment. .'.

[Whyperion]

I always said the banks underlying assets should have been nationalised in the last financial crises , with mortgage to rent.
Time this time to take housing back into council hands, the rent can be spread over time, 400,000 graduates with not a lot to do. Dropping income tax to 20% was always a mistake, but raising it wont make the overall situation any better, too many other minor changes still make the effective rate 40% across the board when lumped with benefits.

A national government and massive state intervention by October unless someone finds a rabbit.

[Stanley]

HSBC as ever looking to the main chance and their profits?

[Stanley]

Sunday World At One was devoted entirely to world economic prospects, I listened to the first few minutes but it was so dire I couldn't stand it so I switched off and buried my head in Larrson. Cut it any way you like but the result is the same, definitely not good!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of the OECD report that predicts the likely economic affects of the pandemic. What grabbed me was this quote The OECD also mentions the pandemic economic impact being "compounded" by the looming plausible failure to sign a trade deal with the EU and new trade barriers with the European Union at the end of the year. It recommends temporarily extending the UK's stay in the single market. That is advice that the government has shown no inclination to follow so far.
The bigger point is that the OECD is subtly pointing to the fact that one rescue package is not enough.
Our leaders are not highlighting these facts but the growing pressure to end lockdown, a process which many experts feel is premature, is a sign that they are aware of these facts and that slowly the need to revive the economy is gaining precedence over the possible increase in deaths it could cause. No way will they admit that this is the case but it looks like a no-brainer.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the stock market falls of yesterday. Worth noting that the Asian markets are down this morning and also a fall in crude oil prices. All this after an upward trend earlier in the week which seems to indicate uncertainty and volatility in the markets. Not a reassuring picture!