Will, Freddie and Fannie

Today's news that Freedie Mac and Fannie Mae might be going even further off the rails than previously thought reminds me of something.

America's two largest mortgage finance houses need to raise as much as $100bn ($53.8bn) to cover potential losses as a result of the continued decline in the US mortgage market, a banking analyst has claimed.

The staggering suggestion is the largest published to date by any industry analyst as to the size of the possible funding shortfall at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee $5,000bn of American mortgages, some 70pc...

Continue reading...

Email to a friend   |   Permalink   |   Comment

The TUC and inequality

It's always worth actually reading these reports that come out you know? Sure, we get newspaper articles saying that the report claims this or that.

The study by the TUC union found that while disposable income for the wealthiest in society has risen to more than £700 a week, that of the poorest has only gone up marginally - and is still less than £200.

It claims more Britons are living below the breadline than 20 years ago, and that no other European country has such a gulf between rich and poor.

The report also claims inequality dramatically...

Continue reading...

Email to a friend   |   Permalink   |   Comment

BAA and a new British port – both in deep water

Since I never avoid a good pun unless absolutely necessary, let’s turn to the news that BAA is to have its wings clipped. The long and the short of it is BAA may have to sell up to three of its seven airports after the Competition Commission found the current position is having “adverse consequences” for passengers and airlines. If one hadn’t had to suffer the pain and anguish associated with going through somewhere like Gatwick or Heathrow, then one might be tempted to feel sorry for BAA.

But will that do...

Continue reading...

Email to a friend   |   Permalink   |   Comment

Those Olympics results in full

Mr. Eugenides brings a necessary sense of proportion to those results from the Beijing Olympics.

The British Empire is currently, as of course it should be, top of the medals table.

Email to a friend   |   Permalink   |   Comment

Evolution means not having to sleep outside

Erm, no, not quite Stephen, not quite.

Evolution does indeed mean many things to us human beings: bipedality, opposable thumbs, menstruation rather than oestrus, my distressing habit of gaining weight on a rich diet, many things indeed.

But not having to sleep outside is a result of something rather different: civilisation.

Email to a friend   |   Permalink   |   Comment