The dam may break after all

Jesse reports on another big bank about to go down; Karl Denninger speculates that the FDIC is colluding in the cover-up of widespread bank insolvency, so it isn't forced to step in when there's no money left in its kitty - for the only thing after that is load more of the losses onto Uncle Sam, i.e. the taxpayers and all our descendants.

If the pressure continues, maybe we'll end up doing what some have said all along needs to be done: step back and let the losers fail, to flush all the rubbish out of the system. Well, all the rubbish that Uncle Sam hasn't already been forced to eat.

More difficult for us in the UK, though, since we don't have lots of second-tier banks ready to take over the loan books. Maybe Barclays and HSBC will profit enormously? Or how about the Bank of China, now moving into the British market?

A great mood-lifter

The penny drops

So, why Chloe Smith? Why is a 27-year-old accountant suddenly an MP?

Then it dawned on me: newsreaders. That's what they are today.

Doesn't mean they're stupid (Chloe got her first class honours) or unskilful (the swan above, the paddling feet below); but it's a different skill set, and a completely different function.

Can't remember when we were asked about this change of job description, though.

Do you want to be happier?

A British professor is urging us to join in his experiment to see how we can make ourselves more happy.

Why do I feel oddly reluctant? Do you feel the same?

An answer to that, might go a long way to explaining why we aren't as happy as we think we ought to be.

I think it's something to do with identity, and the personal past. We cling on, afraid that we'll fall endlessly if we let go; but maybe we're gripping an anchor on the sea floor, and will float towards life when we open our hands.

Green news

Overnighting in the South Hams, we pass Dartington Primary School, which is relocating nearby to a £6 million purpose-built zero-carbon site. Interesting.

As it happens, this year's Key Stage 2 SATS English (for 11-year-olds) was about low-environmental-impact housing - the Earthship.

Should I be for or against? Is this Marie Antoinette territory - a dreamworld for the well-heeled - or is it the way forward for us all?

A simple question

All these bankers and investment houses jumping up and down on the bed until (inevitably it seems, one day) the springs break... where do they invest their own personal money? How do they hope not to share in the debacle, when it comes? Or is the strategy to become so obscenely rich that they can afford to lose 90% and still be rich?

Turning point; hiatus

Reading around in the wisdom of others, I predicted Dow 9,000 here, here and here. Now it's happened. Good for you day-traders, but a fraidy-cat like me is staying away.

Since Marc Faber and others have been saying for some considerable time that they can't see anything worth getting into, and now the dollar is getting closer to having the carpet yanked out from under its feet, and the British pound may follow suit thanks to the miserable state of the British economy, and China is busy blowing an inflationary bubble to maintain its vampire trading relationship with the West, and the gold-bugs are chirruping ever louder (though the US Government might not only seize gold as it did in 1933, but for those smarties who invest in overseas gold stores the bad news may be that Uncle Sam will also seize US citizens' title to those stores), the question is... where to hide your stash?

For the private investor, maybe part of the answer is to look at the currency market, for a country that isn't over-dependent on international trade, has enough natural resources to survive if the world system goes down, and is reasonably stable by second or third world standards. Sadly, I have even less expertise here than elsewhere, but any thoughts on e.g. the Thai baht?

HIATUS

We're going on holiday now, to a place where cellphones don't work (and it's in the UK) and our place has no broadband. Best wishes to you all, hope to be back in touch soon.