Further to this morning's piece about the Bank of England's Deputy Governor, Charlie Bean, telling us to "go out and spend to help invigorate the UK's economic recovery" because "I think it needs to be said that savers shouldn't necessarily expect to be able to live just off their income in times when interest rates are low. It may make sense for them to eat into their capital a bit."
The more I think about this advice the more angry I get. There are many anger making points arising from Mr Bean's advice, here's a few:
1) If people have put money aside for a rainy day, something the last Labour government singly failed to do, why should they be punished whilst the feckless find the amount of their debts reduced?
2) If the current economic recession was caused largely by excessive spending, why does Mr Bean want us to repeat the mistakes?
3) Inflation is just another stealth tax, maybe the most effective one. It is a tax imposed by governments on those holding its debt and anyone whose savings are not index-linked (and by the correct index) is paying towards that tax.
4) In Feb 2009, just before the Labour Government & Bank of England turned on the banknote printing presses, the Bank of England predicted that inflation in late 2010 would be between 0% and 1%. A year later in Feb 2010 they predicted it would be between 1% and 2%. Now in September 2010 it's 3.1%. So why hould anyone believe a Bank of England who still claim that inflation is not a real worry, deflation is?
5) OK so we are not alone, the US Federal has said it is willing 'to provide additional accommodation if needed to … return inflation, over time, to levels consistent with its mandate' - More deliberate inflation...
6) Back to the value in property point. Yes my house has gone up in value and yes that is nice (on paper) but it gives me no income and I can only release that increase in value when I sell it. But at that point I will need to buy another house so how does that help. As I see it the only time the 'profit' in my house will be realised is when I die and the beneficiaries of my will pay inheritance tax. Hold on is that the real plan? Force old age pensioners and other savers with no real income to starve so that they die and then the government gets a percentage of the rise in house prices in the form of inheritance tax? Surely no government could be that cruel...
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1 comment:
I assume the ludicrous Mr. Bean is a Labour placeman. Let's hope the coalition clear him out.
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