Cheap Charlie rides again

[Cheap Charlie]

House prices:

Year	2008	2009
UK	-15.9%	-20.0%*
Canada	-1.1%	-3.0%*

* Forecast: all figures appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Jan 7, 2009.

Does the above table tell you something about the competence of the government in the two countries?
[Doing tables in BBC is a stinker!]

[Howard]

Does the above table tell you something about the competence of the government in the two countries?

I'm not sure if it does, Rupert.  It may tell me a bit about differences in housing markets and demographics. 

What does it tell you?

[Cheap Charlie]

It tells me that loose lending policies, 110% mortgages, buy-to-let etc, inflated British house prices.  All this connived at by politicians planning to cash in on the feel good factor. Arms length regulation devolved financial responsibility to the Bank of England and the risible Financial Services Authority, set up by the Prime Minister. This aimed at insulating the politicians from bad news.
A former banker, living in Lewes, told me that at one time you could get all the key players in one meeting when there was a banking crisis. This no longer being the case lead directly to the Northern Rock fiasco. Gordon Brown bottled giving Lloyd's Bank certain guarantees to quietly take over Northern Rock over one weekend and opened the floodgates.  Countless billions later we now have debts to pay for generations to come. We now have a semi-nationalised banking system in the UK run by a government of no talent.
Gordon Brown, the man who had abolished boom and bust, advertised to the world his own financial incompetence by announcing the sale of Britain's gold reserves on the cheap.  He has presided over a massive devaluation of sterling making expats like myself much the poorer. The incentive to save for old age has now vanished - savers have been screwed - their pathetic returns subject to tax.
House prices aren't collapsing in Canada because the government here did none of the above.  We are not immune from developments elsewhere, particularly south of the border, but not making toxic loans is a sound policy followed here.
To those in the UK facing negative equity and in fear for their jobs my heart goes out to them. If you are young and healthy the best advice I can give is to emigrate.

[Cheap Charlie]

Cold Snap

Ron Stockey sent me this picture taken on his way to work during the recent freeze up here in Toronto. Apparently the gauge was showing -28°C but changed in the time it took to get the camera out. Ron also sent a pointer to some great pictures of old gas stations. I recognise the one in Odell, Illinois.