If the UK’s finances were a person, you would have diagnosed a potentially fatal illness a year ago. The patient was mortally wounded, bleeding heavily, and it was only after extraordinary and emergency resuscitation at the last minute that the danger of death was averted.
The causes of the organ failure were it seems due to the patient bingeing in an unprecendented way, consuming large amounts of unsuitable sustenance, a poison in fact.
Any medical practitioner having regard to such an illness and the excesses of the patient, would administer to the recovered - and hopefully contrite patient - a stern lecture on the evils of over-imbibing. A doctor would explain in words of one syllable the consequence of similar excesses and would spell out in very certain terms the very likely danger of death if such behaviour happened again.
A sensible patient, having had a near-death experience, would then mend their ways, choosing instead of their usual excesses a more frugal existence and avoid, like the proverbial plague, the very behaviour which had brought them so low.
I don’t see any of that in the alleged resurgence of financial health. We seem to have side-stepped the issues and the patient, if anything, is being encouraged to carry on as before. Consumption, growth – these are the terms we hear commentators crowing about, as if they are anything to be proud of.
It looks to me as if the patient still has not received the message. I fear that it will limp along, becoming increasingly over-weight, talking the talk but not desisting temptation nor doing the walks and the runs it should. And as Greenspan says, yes, it will all happen again, the patient will never really learn.
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
There's no Plan B
It's only 9.05 am and already I'm rather hot under the collar. I keep reading about green shoots everywhere and how we're on track to getting back to where we were.
Why don't the politicians get it? We cannot go back to where we were - it's broke. It didn't work. It ain't worth saving. The endless growth of spending and consumption has to end if life is to continue on this planet. Up to this morning I couldn't quite understand why politicians don't seem to realise that.
Now I think I know the answer. The reason politicians, economists, business leaders and all the vast heaps of quangos keep banging on about green shoots and growth is that they know nothing else. They can't imagine anything else. It is beyond their comprehension that life could be other than an unmitigated drive to growth and consumerism. So if the economy is not growing and consumerism is not flourishing, well they hope it will soon. They are not looking for any other model or solution.
Even the 'Thought for the Day' speaker on Radio 4 spoke about the use of that word "consumer" today and what a sad reflection it is on our modern lives that we categorise ourselves as consumers, people who eat up resources.
To illustrate how I think those that rule don't understand the plot consider this. I've just read the introduction of a leaflet from Her Majesty's Government entitled "Real Help Now For Women" - a Central Office of Information publication it appears. There's a whole page - the second one in the introduction - which is just singing the praises of the government, it's nothing to do with helping women. And we are paying for that page with all its white space around the words. We are paying for that political propoganda at a time when we're in a recession and everyone's tightening their belts. Obviously the COI is not.
This leaflet is a symptom of the problem. It illustrates the unwillingness or inability to change ways for working, for this juggernaut that is our government to do things differently. Why not cut the design element, cut all the white space and stick the information in that leaflet onto a couple of sides of A4 and save thousands? I don't suppose it ever occurred to anyone.
The COI is doing what it's always done, government is doing what it's always done, the politicians are crossing their toes and fingers and hoping that the economy will eventually do what it's always done. So that means setting up initiatives, web sites with lots of links, beautifully designed leaflets, lots of spending that can be flagged up in the intro to yet more leaflets. It's all so predictable and I suspect completely useless.
Somewhere along the way those who seek to lead have lost that ability to think outside the norm. They just cannot grasp that all previous models have failed and we are in unknown territory so we need to do something different.
There is no Plan B and at the moment there's no comprehension that we even need one. I think that's the biggest problem we face, there is no Plan B.
Why don't the politicians get it? We cannot go back to where we were - it's broke. It didn't work. It ain't worth saving. The endless growth of spending and consumption has to end if life is to continue on this planet. Up to this morning I couldn't quite understand why politicians don't seem to realise that.
Now I think I know the answer. The reason politicians, economists, business leaders and all the vast heaps of quangos keep banging on about green shoots and growth is that they know nothing else. They can't imagine anything else. It is beyond their comprehension that life could be other than an unmitigated drive to growth and consumerism. So if the economy is not growing and consumerism is not flourishing, well they hope it will soon. They are not looking for any other model or solution.
Even the 'Thought for the Day' speaker on Radio 4 spoke about the use of that word "consumer" today and what a sad reflection it is on our modern lives that we categorise ourselves as consumers, people who eat up resources.
To illustrate how I think those that rule don't understand the plot consider this. I've just read the introduction of a leaflet from Her Majesty's Government entitled "Real Help Now For Women" - a Central Office of Information publication it appears. There's a whole page - the second one in the introduction - which is just singing the praises of the government, it's nothing to do with helping women. And we are paying for that page with all its white space around the words. We are paying for that political propoganda at a time when we're in a recession and everyone's tightening their belts. Obviously the COI is not.
This leaflet is a symptom of the problem. It illustrates the unwillingness or inability to change ways for working, for this juggernaut that is our government to do things differently. Why not cut the design element, cut all the white space and stick the information in that leaflet onto a couple of sides of A4 and save thousands? I don't suppose it ever occurred to anyone.
The COI is doing what it's always done, government is doing what it's always done, the politicians are crossing their toes and fingers and hoping that the economy will eventually do what it's always done. So that means setting up initiatives, web sites with lots of links, beautifully designed leaflets, lots of spending that can be flagged up in the intro to yet more leaflets. It's all so predictable and I suspect completely useless.
Somewhere along the way those who seek to lead have lost that ability to think outside the norm. They just cannot grasp that all previous models have failed and we are in unknown territory so we need to do something different.
There is no Plan B and at the moment there's no comprehension that we even need one. I think that's the biggest problem we face, there is no Plan B.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Royal Mail's "pricing made easy"
You could be forgiven for letting out a large and long guffaw if you picked up a leaflet from the Post Office today entitled "pricing made easy". In the last few years Post Office management has done its level best to ensure that the pricing is anything but easy.
I run a small business and up to now I've always been aware when there was a price increase because the Royal Mail made a point of telling me and sending me the new tarrif. Not this time. I'm obviously not paying attention for today I only discovered the rise in postage prices when I went to the Post Office.
I'm visiting Post Office counters more and more these days because I'm finding it more and more difficult to know which category my post comes under. Let's face it, you now have to know not just the weight but also all the dimensions of your letters and check if they go through the little slot.
I was lucky because I received a little slot in the days when Royal Mail communicated regularly with me. I wonder how ordinary mortals, without little slots, cope? Well, actually I don't really wonder at all, because I see them in their droves queuing at the Post Office in order to send their one package.
The queue is longer of course, because wherever it can (under the dictates of Europe) Royal Mail has closed post offices, so people have to travel to find one that's still open.
For me, who stores stationery for years, there's an added trip in the system. I cannot assume that my larger envelopes will pass the tests and many of them have to be cut down and taped in order to make them the correct sizes.
So Adam Crozier, if you're reading this, just think about things from a user's point of view for a change.
Pricing made easy? - you've got to be joking!
I run a small business and up to now I've always been aware when there was a price increase because the Royal Mail made a point of telling me and sending me the new tarrif. Not this time. I'm obviously not paying attention for today I only discovered the rise in postage prices when I went to the Post Office.
I'm visiting Post Office counters more and more these days because I'm finding it more and more difficult to know which category my post comes under. Let's face it, you now have to know not just the weight but also all the dimensions of your letters and check if they go through the little slot.
I was lucky because I received a little slot in the days when Royal Mail communicated regularly with me. I wonder how ordinary mortals, without little slots, cope? Well, actually I don't really wonder at all, because I see them in their droves queuing at the Post Office in order to send their one package.
The queue is longer of course, because wherever it can (under the dictates of Europe) Royal Mail has closed post offices, so people have to travel to find one that's still open.
For me, who stores stationery for years, there's an added trip in the system. I cannot assume that my larger envelopes will pass the tests and many of them have to be cut down and taped in order to make them the correct sizes.
So Adam Crozier, if you're reading this, just think about things from a user's point of view for a change.
Pricing made easy? - you've got to be joking!
Thursday, 29 January 2009
World Economic Forum 2009
I think it was my second ever blog - 16 November 2007 - do check back - when I wrote:
"I don't know about you but I get very worried about economists who keep telling us that markets must grow in order to have success. Have they not worked out that we live on a sphere with limited resources?
There must come a time, it's just common sense, when we have to stop acquiring, we have to stop growing our aspirations, our belongings, our greed. Because it we don't do it voluntarily eventually it will catch up with us in a most unpleasant way.
I crave the day when a Chancellor of the Exchequer says we must maintain our current levels, we must make do and mend, we must grow the principle of re-use, re-manufacture, and build a truly sustainable and green economy. At the moment government ministers - especially those in favour of plastering the south east with high-density flats - use the word 'sustainability' all over the place with little regard to its true meaning. "
And so it has come to pass that the economic leaders of the world meet like headless chickens to discuss something that they no longer understand and over which they have no longer any control.
Was it just me that knew it all had to stop somewhere? No, of course not. I'd discussed my misgivings about the greed culture many times with friends. We often contemplated how a couple that we knew, without a full-time job between the two of them, had managed to acquire three houses. It turned out they just walked down to the mortgage shop, signed on the dotted line, and became property owners. Simple as that. Only of course we knew it wasn't that simple because common sense told us it couldn't last.
Even though it's all now happened, the baby has gawn darn the plug'ole with the bath water, still we hear nothing about sustainability. Still government ministers talk about economic growth and debt as it if were something that can be sustained infinitely. With the truth staring them in the face they still don't seem to 'get it'. Meanwhile thousands of ordinary people, many of whom never made a greedy decision about property or possessions have been plunged into spiralling financial disaster.
We must start talking about a financial system which is infinitely sustainable and that will support a life-style that is sustainable. That means less greed for all of us. There is absolutely no point in aspiring to go back to the position that we were in originally. 16 November seems a long time ago but my wishes have not changed.
"I don't know about you but I get very worried about economists who keep telling us that markets must grow in order to have success. Have they not worked out that we live on a sphere with limited resources?
There must come a time, it's just common sense, when we have to stop acquiring, we have to stop growing our aspirations, our belongings, our greed. Because it we don't do it voluntarily eventually it will catch up with us in a most unpleasant way.
I crave the day when a Chancellor of the Exchequer says we must maintain our current levels, we must make do and mend, we must grow the principle of re-use, re-manufacture, and build a truly sustainable and green economy. At the moment government ministers - especially those in favour of plastering the south east with high-density flats - use the word 'sustainability' all over the place with little regard to its true meaning. "
And so it has come to pass that the economic leaders of the world meet like headless chickens to discuss something that they no longer understand and over which they have no longer any control.
Was it just me that knew it all had to stop somewhere? No, of course not. I'd discussed my misgivings about the greed culture many times with friends. We often contemplated how a couple that we knew, without a full-time job between the two of them, had managed to acquire three houses. It turned out they just walked down to the mortgage shop, signed on the dotted line, and became property owners. Simple as that. Only of course we knew it wasn't that simple because common sense told us it couldn't last.
Even though it's all now happened, the baby has gawn darn the plug'ole with the bath water, still we hear nothing about sustainability. Still government ministers talk about economic growth and debt as it if were something that can be sustained infinitely. With the truth staring them in the face they still don't seem to 'get it'. Meanwhile thousands of ordinary people, many of whom never made a greedy decision about property or possessions have been plunged into spiralling financial disaster.
We must start talking about a financial system which is infinitely sustainable and that will support a life-style that is sustainable. That means less greed for all of us. There is absolutely no point in aspiring to go back to the position that we were in originally. 16 November seems a long time ago but my wishes have not changed.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
The Merdle factor
Was ever a serial on TV ever more appropriate than the recent showing of the excellent BBC dramatisation of Little Dorrit? As banks have been crashing in global reality so we watched as greedy men queued at Mr Merdle's door and observed the bank bubble bursting to leave the characters in penury.
We observe today's mighty - global corporations - being brought low as the humble poor become exalted - well in my book anyway. The global situation - and not just in finance - is echoed in other great literature too, even bible references.
I have sung psalms for many many years. "Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast my shoe" is a phrase engraved upon my brain - goodness knows why. So when the journalist threw his shoe at Bush it made a great deal of sense to me.
What baffles me is why Bush didn't understand the action or the context. Surely if you are going to dabble in the affairs of another country to the extent of invading it, you really ought to have an extremely good grounding in its existing culture. Events since the invasion have shown how little the Americans understand.
But I digress and will return to the Dickension reference with which I started. It seems that every day brings a new relevelation which, apart from the value of the currency and the obvious advances in the standard of living generally, reflect with a sharp reality how little we have moved since the days of Queen Victoria.
We can see in Dicken's Mr Pancks the employee of the large financial institution, benign in its public persona but in reality a money-grabbing monstrosity with no heart and no true concern for its customers. The inhabitants of Bleeding Heart Yard portray a striking resemblance to the victims of Equitable Life or the Icelandic banks.
And then of course there is the Circumlocution Office - round and round it goes and nothing is achieved. Funny how the FSA and other government regulatory bodies come to mind.
We observe today's mighty - global corporations - being brought low as the humble poor become exalted - well in my book anyway. The global situation - and not just in finance - is echoed in other great literature too, even bible references.
I have sung psalms for many many years. "Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast my shoe" is a phrase engraved upon my brain - goodness knows why. So when the journalist threw his shoe at Bush it made a great deal of sense to me.
What baffles me is why Bush didn't understand the action or the context. Surely if you are going to dabble in the affairs of another country to the extent of invading it, you really ought to have an extremely good grounding in its existing culture. Events since the invasion have shown how little the Americans understand.
But I digress and will return to the Dickension reference with which I started. It seems that every day brings a new relevelation which, apart from the value of the currency and the obvious advances in the standard of living generally, reflect with a sharp reality how little we have moved since the days of Queen Victoria.
We can see in Dicken's Mr Pancks the employee of the large financial institution, benign in its public persona but in reality a money-grabbing monstrosity with no heart and no true concern for its customers. The inhabitants of Bleeding Heart Yard portray a striking resemblance to the victims of Equitable Life or the Icelandic banks.
And then of course there is the Circumlocution Office - round and round it goes and nothing is achieved. Funny how the FSA and other government regulatory bodies come to mind.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Growth now fettered
I've just looked back and it was November last year when I blogged with a plea for sustainability to overtake the greed and unsustainable growth that the then Chancellor, now Prime Minister, was championing.
Now the chickens have come very firmly home to roost. I'm not one of those who feel aggrieved that we, the tax payers, have to foot the bill for all the borrowing. I'm content that government has done what is necessary to stop confidence pouring out of the economy. The alternative was unthinkable, so I won't even contemplate it.
But now that we're once again on an even keel - well, I hope we are - we shouldn't be talking about economics in terms of where we were because where we were was a very dangerous precipice. We need to be considering our future from a position well back from the edge of that particular cliff.
The middle classes, who will no doubt gripe about the reduction in their foreign holidays and the cost of taxing their cars, are not really hard up. They don't really have a clue what it's like counting the pennies - they have only ever counted tenners. The pensioners, God bless them, who spent their teens during WWII, will no doubt make do and mend, as they did then and consequently fare much better than those of use who have lived in more fortunate times.
Then there's a whole load of people who will have to come to terms, for the first time in their life, that when they want something they cannot necessarily just go out and buy it. They are going to have to start living within their means, taking some account of the value of their existing possessions. They will not be able to buy a new three piece suite for Christmas with payment deferred into eternity on a buy now, regret at leisure scheme. And thank goodness for it.
I long for the day when the whole high street is full of charity and used goods shops, and when builders take back to a builders' merchant all the excess that's left on site on the completion of a job. I actually want to have to meet my neighbours and enjoy their company rather than sit in my own house watching yet more TV. I want to live frugally and in harmony with the planet.
We've had a near miss with the banking crisis so please, let's learn some lessons. Let's have some real clear leadership on those matters that are of real importance and let's face up to the fact that our good fortune comes at a price for the planet and we squander it at our peril. Otherwise our next brush with disaster may be terminal and irreversible.
Now the chickens have come very firmly home to roost. I'm not one of those who feel aggrieved that we, the tax payers, have to foot the bill for all the borrowing. I'm content that government has done what is necessary to stop confidence pouring out of the economy. The alternative was unthinkable, so I won't even contemplate it.
But now that we're once again on an even keel - well, I hope we are - we shouldn't be talking about economics in terms of where we were because where we were was a very dangerous precipice. We need to be considering our future from a position well back from the edge of that particular cliff.
The middle classes, who will no doubt gripe about the reduction in their foreign holidays and the cost of taxing their cars, are not really hard up. They don't really have a clue what it's like counting the pennies - they have only ever counted tenners. The pensioners, God bless them, who spent their teens during WWII, will no doubt make do and mend, as they did then and consequently fare much better than those of use who have lived in more fortunate times.
Then there's a whole load of people who will have to come to terms, for the first time in their life, that when they want something they cannot necessarily just go out and buy it. They are going to have to start living within their means, taking some account of the value of their existing possessions. They will not be able to buy a new three piece suite for Christmas with payment deferred into eternity on a buy now, regret at leisure scheme. And thank goodness for it.
I long for the day when the whole high street is full of charity and used goods shops, and when builders take back to a builders' merchant all the excess that's left on site on the completion of a job. I actually want to have to meet my neighbours and enjoy their company rather than sit in my own house watching yet more TV. I want to live frugally and in harmony with the planet.
We've had a near miss with the banking crisis so please, let's learn some lessons. Let's have some real clear leadership on those matters that are of real importance and let's face up to the fact that our good fortune comes at a price for the planet and we squander it at our peril. Otherwise our next brush with disaster may be terminal and irreversible.
Friday, 25 July 2008
The Bank
I joined the National Westminster Bank when I was a teenager. Why? Because my parents banked there. And so it has been throughout my entire life. Mainly I’ve used friendly semi-rural branches and I have to say that at personal level the NatWest (as it became many moons ago) has been very reliable.
It’s at the business level that I have to gripe. Practically every contact I have ever had with NatWest business managers about my business account (now nearly 12 years’ old) have been unsatisfactory. What amazes me is that my experience can be so bad when I ask for so little. I do not go overdrawn, I don’t borrow from them – tried that, see below. No I pay a minimal (but still painful to my mind) sum to them to keep my money safe and to offer me a pitiful interest rate on my reserve account.
Over those twelve years I have discovered that, though I usually keep my current account obscenely buoyant, on two occasions when I’ve needed a quick loan/overdraft it’s been (a) impossible to contact “my” manager immediately because sometime they haven’t even had one assigned to me (b) to enter into any arrangement at short notice, and (c) to do so without putting a charge on my house! I ended up lending my company a couple of grand from my own personal finances the last time. It was far easier.
The Nat West in its catalogue of dealings with me dropped a direct debit arrangement without telling me because they said I’d gone too long without using it and misled me about whether or not other banks would do the same.
The then business manager made an appointment with me to talk about a complaint and failed not only to keep the appointment, but even to contact me to apologise after the event. When I complained about that, NatWest sent me flowers which made me incandescent with rage. I want good service from my bank, not flowers.
They failed to set up a direct debit correctly which made it impossible for me to cancel it when I needed to, despite the fact that two years running they allowed the payee to draw on it. I spent hours and hours over weeks trying to sort that one out. Eventually a very nice lady in a call centre admitted they’d made a complete mess of it. It was so refreshing to hear her admit their error and apologise.
A couple of years back my bank statements stopped arriving. Apparently the Post Office had sent them back marked undelivered despite me being at the same address that I have been for twelve years. When the Post Office takes the letters back, instead of the NatWest contacting me to check if I’m still here, they just stop sending statements. Believe it or not, I had to fill in a form to reinstate the statements.
I received a letter from head office a couple of months ago. It told me of two new accounts. Interested I went onto the web site. Only the details of one of the accounts were there. Never mind, though I, I would ring my business manager. Good news – I had a business manager. Bad news – he’d never heard of these accounts, didn’t know of the letter either
Talking of head office, it always writes to the right company name – ie. my trading name – whereas the bank statements come to the registered company name, which is different. Why can’t they use the right address every time I wonder? That’s presumably why the postage service gets it so wrong. And yes, the statements stopped coming about a month ago. Again same problem, Post Officer returns them, NatWest does not tell me.
The new bank manager did pop up and see me today – that’s a first - and he says he’ll reinstate the statements without me needing to sign anything – which is why my mind has turned to NatWest today. I was thinking of changing banks to one that doesn’t charge me for everyday transactions. However the trauma I envisage puts me right off. I remember when my husband and I just changed branches of NatWest many years ago. All our money disappeared into a black hole for a couple of days because someone had forgotten to set up the new account at the new branch. You remember things like that.
It’s at the business level that I have to gripe. Practically every contact I have ever had with NatWest business managers about my business account (now nearly 12 years’ old) have been unsatisfactory. What amazes me is that my experience can be so bad when I ask for so little. I do not go overdrawn, I don’t borrow from them – tried that, see below. No I pay a minimal (but still painful to my mind) sum to them to keep my money safe and to offer me a pitiful interest rate on my reserve account.
Over those twelve years I have discovered that, though I usually keep my current account obscenely buoyant, on two occasions when I’ve needed a quick loan/overdraft it’s been (a) impossible to contact “my” manager immediately because sometime they haven’t even had one assigned to me (b) to enter into any arrangement at short notice, and (c) to do so without putting a charge on my house! I ended up lending my company a couple of grand from my own personal finances the last time. It was far easier.
The Nat West in its catalogue of dealings with me dropped a direct debit arrangement without telling me because they said I’d gone too long without using it and misled me about whether or not other banks would do the same.
The then business manager made an appointment with me to talk about a complaint and failed not only to keep the appointment, but even to contact me to apologise after the event. When I complained about that, NatWest sent me flowers which made me incandescent with rage. I want good service from my bank, not flowers.
They failed to set up a direct debit correctly which made it impossible for me to cancel it when I needed to, despite the fact that two years running they allowed the payee to draw on it. I spent hours and hours over weeks trying to sort that one out. Eventually a very nice lady in a call centre admitted they’d made a complete mess of it. It was so refreshing to hear her admit their error and apologise.
A couple of years back my bank statements stopped arriving. Apparently the Post Office had sent them back marked undelivered despite me being at the same address that I have been for twelve years. When the Post Office takes the letters back, instead of the NatWest contacting me to check if I’m still here, they just stop sending statements. Believe it or not, I had to fill in a form to reinstate the statements.
I received a letter from head office a couple of months ago. It told me of two new accounts. Interested I went onto the web site. Only the details of one of the accounts were there. Never mind, though I, I would ring my business manager. Good news – I had a business manager. Bad news – he’d never heard of these accounts, didn’t know of the letter either
Talking of head office, it always writes to the right company name – ie. my trading name – whereas the bank statements come to the registered company name, which is different. Why can’t they use the right address every time I wonder? That’s presumably why the postage service gets it so wrong. And yes, the statements stopped coming about a month ago. Again same problem, Post Officer returns them, NatWest does not tell me.
The new bank manager did pop up and see me today – that’s a first - and he says he’ll reinstate the statements without me needing to sign anything – which is why my mind has turned to NatWest today. I was thinking of changing banks to one that doesn’t charge me for everyday transactions. However the trauma I envisage puts me right off. I remember when my husband and I just changed branches of NatWest many years ago. All our money disappeared into a black hole for a couple of days because someone had forgotten to set up the new account at the new branch. You remember things like that.
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