Grrrr – eeeeek - by Richard... Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Grrrr – eeeeek - by Richard... Tuesday, November 01, 2011

UPDATE: In a surprise move, the defence minister has proposed the complete replacement of the country's military chiefs of staff - the chief of the Greek National Defence General Staff and all the service chiefs (pictured below). It is understood that the personnel changes took many members of the government and of the armed forces by surprise. What did we say at the end of this piece? Was this to pre-empt a military coup?

UPDATE: "This was completely unanticipated ... It is not needed and it is just sort of an internal political thing," said John Canally investment strategist and economist for LPL Financial in Boston. "This vote in Greece is going to hang over the market for next week or so, unfortunately".

UPDATE: Stocks are falling even harder now on talk that the Greek government may be on the verge of collapse, says the WSJ Clog.

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 fell as financial and commodity shares had the biggest declines, saysBloomberg Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. retreated more than 7.2 percent as a gauge of European lenders tumbled 6.7 percent. Alcoa Inc., Boeing Co. and Cisco Systems Inc. decreased at least 3.4 percent, pacing losses among companies most-dependent on economic growth. Baker Hughes Inc. sank 8.6 percent as earnings missed analysts’ estimates.

The S&P 500 fell 2.6 percent to 1,221.35 as of 12:15 p.m. New York time. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities slumped 2.5 percent yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 277.68 points, or 2.3 percent, to 11,677.33 today.

"I just don’t get it", says Michael Mullaney, who helps manage $9.5 billion at Fiduciary Trust in Boston. "A Greek referendum is a very risky proposition. Everybody thought last week that this crisis was behind us on a near-term basis, but Europe is going to be front and center".

UPDATE: Caught unawares by his high-risk gamble, says The Irish Times, Merkel and Sarkozy have summoned Papandreou to crisis talks in Cannes tomorrow. They will push for a quick implementation of the bailout deal ahead of the G20 summit. And the Athens Stock Exchange has suffered its biggest daily drop since October 2008, with the general index shedding 7.7 percent.

The lines are 'umming, the Progressive Contrarian is being, er … contrarian, Helen warns that you should never play poker with Greeks, Ambrose is being Armageddon-ish and Bruno is saying that there has to be a three-fifths majority for a referendum, so it ain't going to happen. Mary Ellen Synon ruminates about Greece being chucked out of the euro, and says that can't happen either.

The Daily Wail has taken tits and bums off its lead long enough to tell us that the markets are in freefall, and that MF Global has gone bankrupt. Merkel is said to be stunned and Sarkozy "dismayed". From over the Atlantic, the New York Times is talking of the Greek government being plunged into chaos, with the prospect of a collapse that would not only render the referendum plan moot but likely scuttle — or at least delay — the bailout.

Everything is on hold now, waiting for the great Merkel to speak. But I've already written her speech. It's the title of this piece.

COMMENT: "JOKER" THREAD

9Share

Print ready

Happiness, happiness - by Richard...

It struck me the other day that, with great events afoot, how irrelevant our own political establishment has become. Then, as if to confirm this, up pops the moronic Boy. His particular piece of fatuity this time is having the ONS spend £2 million over the course of a year working out what questions to ask for his happiness survey.

What Dave clearly does not seem to appreciate, though, is that the happiness of a growing number of people would be best secured by an announcement of his own departure from politics.

COMMENT THREAD

Share

Print ready

Exposure - by Richard...

Well, as pointed up yesterday, the "Exposure" documentary on bailiffs was aired on ITV1. It is now available on the web. For the record, I thought the programme pulled its punches, its only real high spot being a bravura performance by Austin Mitchell, whose daughter had been caught out by a bailiff seeking to recover a fine of which she was totally unaware.

The worst of the programme was that it starting off on a false premise, declaring of the star of the programme, bailiff John Boast - who had worked for Rossendales for three years: "There are no laws governing how he conducts his business – only guidelines", intones the voice-over. Of course there are laws, not least the Fraud Act 2006 – but you never get a hint of that from the programme.

Boast was recorded by an undercover reporter working for Exposure. He applied for a job as a trainee … the post needs no formal qualifications, just personal and previous job references, giving no hint that the job of bailiff does require a formal "qualification", a certificate from a judge after an oral examination - a process which brings in a raft of additional laws.

With some irony, the egregious Boast complains of the debtors not respecting the law, yet himself gallops a coach and horse through the law, breaking almost every one you can imagine.

The programme was two weeks late in transmission, having sustained a major assault from the bailiff industry, trying to keep it off the air. And the effort during the programme was made to present Boast as a "rogue bailiff", as does the damage limitation after the event.

However, Boast's exposition of the economics of the industry tell the story. "The pen will make you money" he told his "trainee", advocating the very practice of "phantom visits" about which I have complained. Basically, if the bailiffs play it straight, they cannot make a decent living.

Here, one has a little sympathy for the people engaged. They have to make a living, and someone has to do the job ... we cannot have a situation where debts go unpaid and there is no enforcement. But then, the rationale is the same as any thief ... they need to make money, and obeying the law becomes optional.

What was also very interesting is the claim by Rossendale that they have very few complaints. But here, the system is designed to deter complaints. It is a closed loop which always refers you back to the bailiff about whom you wish to complain ... with results we saw with Boast's attitude, while the local authorities turn blind eyes.

Boast is working for Hounslow council which runs a good line in BS. It was "appalled by the allegations about John Boast" and "takes them very seriously". It says it has a "rigorous complaints procedure". It "continually reviews the provision of its bailiff services" and will be "looking to minimise the risks of any repeat behaviour".

As to Rossendales, Boast had worked three years for the company and had "visited" 7,000 premises, "yet we've never had a complaint about him". Right!

The great disappointment with programme though was its failure to mention the Fraud Act and the role of the police. And while the police have enough on their plate, the ultimate regulator has to be the constabulary, insofar as there are very clear breaches of the criminal code. Perhaps a jolt to the system will force the pace, and bring on the very necessary reform.

If, on the other hand, one has to rely on low-grade documentaries of the "Exposure" variety - a programme which buys into the "rogue baliff" meme and calls for "more regulation" – the public will remain as ill-informed as they ever have been. Why people think the "telly" will ever be able to do a worthwhile job is one of life's great mysteries.

COMMENT: "BAILIFF" THREAD

Share

Print ready

I'm shocked - by Richard...

It's like last week never happened, wibbles The Failygraph. The FTSE 100 is now trading at around 5,400 points - below the level it reached after the bail-out was agreed in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

I almost feel like sniggering. What did they expect?