Kwarteng starting with secrecy

[Nearly Sane]

Not a good look

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62970803

[Gordon]

Seems duplicitous, and probably is.

[Aruntraveller]

That, and giggling to himself at the Queen's funeral leads me to one conclusion.

The man is a twat.

[SqueakyVoice]

Turns out Liz has hit the ground running...

...away.

[Nearly Sane]

Perhaps more secrecy would have been better.


https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/25/city-braces-for-more-volatility-mini-budget-rocks-pound-parity-dollar-bond-tax

[Udayana]

Hey, he has a nice confident smiley face ...

Interest rates will rise .. so, for those of us with savings, our savings will increase faster ... but  mainly you have the sinking feeling that the coffers will be empty or content worthless by the time you need them.

Those without ... remain left holding nothing.

If you keep your money abroad ... well done.

[jeremyp]

Cutting taxes at this time is practically criminal.

It's so obviously bad that Nicola Sturgeon is prepared to take the political hit for having higher taxes than perfidious Albion rather than keep in step.

[Gordon]

Cutting taxes at this time is practically criminal.

It's so obviously bad that Nicola Sturgeon is prepared to take the political hit for having higher taxes than perfidious Albion rather than keep in step.

Perhaps she thinks that something somewhere is going to implode - current reports suggest that the Bank of England will implement an emergency interest rate rise, and if so I wonder when the Tory backtracking begins.

Haven't seen either Truss or Kwarteng saying much today in spite of the situation but I doubt they can hide if interest rates are hiked.   

[Walt Zingmatilder]

The pound has Kwashed.

[Udayana]

The pound has Kwashed.

Kwasi has flushed it down the lav...

[Udayana]

Perhaps she thinks that something somewhere is going to implode - current reports suggest that the Bank of England will implement an emergency interest rate rise, and if so I wonder when the Tory backtracking begins.

Haven't seen either Truss or Kwarteng saying much today in spite of the situation but I doubt they can hide if interest rates are hiked.

Bank decided not to do anything .. and may not until November. IMO, Bailey just does not have what it takes to resist political pressure and run the BoE.
 

[jeremyp]

Perhaps she thinks that something somewhere is going to implode

I think she is right.

There's an obvious political risk associated with raising income tax on top of what Westminster is raising. This is the first time IIRC that she has used Scotland's ability to raise extra taxes over and above the British government. If she's more worried about taxes than making the British government the bad guys, we should all be concerned.

[jeremyp]

Bank decided not to do anything .. and may not until November. IMO, Bailey just does not have what it takes to resist political pressure and run the BoE.

I think that is reckless.

Having said that, I'm in the comfortable position of not having a mortgage. People who do have them must be really worried about a mortgage hike on top of the high energy bills.

[Udayana]

I think that is reckless.

Having said that, I'm in the comfortable position of not having a mortgage. People who do have them must be really worried about a mortgage hike on top of the high energy bills.

Mortgage availability and cost is the vital factor in UK politics - more than simple take home pay, NHS, education ... .

If people can't afford their mortgages or at least feel that they could buy their own home if just a bit further "up the ladder" - they will ditch the party that brought those conditions about.

Thatcher, Blair/brown understood that well. Major, Lamont did not and the current lot do not care. They think they can fool everyone by cutting headline tax rates, using long term debt to pay for essential energy use etc .. ignoring or distracting attention from the health of the real, underlying, economy: whilst their hedge fund banker friends run off with the cash. Even BJ and Sunak felt they had to at least put on a show of trying to "level up", fix the NHS and provide jam tomorrow.     

[jeremyp]

Mortgage availability and cost is the vital factor in UK politics - more than simple take home pay, NHS, education ... .

If people can't afford their mortgages or at least feel that they could buy their own home if just a bit further "up the ladder" - they will ditch the party that brought those conditions about.

Thatcher, Blair/brown understood that well. Major, Lamont did not and the current lot do not care. They think they can fool everyone by cutting headline tax rates, using long term debt to pay for essential energy use etc .. ignoring or distracting attention from the health of the real, underlying, economy: whilst their hedge fund banker friends run off with the cash. Even BJ and Sunak felt they had to at least put on a show of trying to "level up", fix the NHS and provide jam tomorrow.     

The problem is that interest rates do need to be higher in order to try to control inflation. And taxes need to be higher to try to bring the deficit under control. Both of these affect poorer people more than richer people. In fact, pretty much anything you try to do with the economy affects poor people more.

I don't pretend to have a solution to this.

[Nearly Sane]

From The Spectator mocking Sunak's prediction at the time.

[SteveH]

John Crace, in the garudnia, has dubbed him "Kamikwasi Kwarteng".

[jeremyp]

Even the BBC is having problems with the new chancellor

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63065413

the Bank [of England] has responded in emergency mode. The clear cause of this crisis was the chancellor's mini budget, leading to a loss of market confidence, and spiralling borrowing rates on government debt.

Also the IMF

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63056417

[jeremyp]

From The Spectator mocking Sunak's prediction at the time.

It could never happen here...

[Nearly Sane]

Even the BBC is having problems with the new chancellor

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63065413

Also the IMF

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63056417

Been quite a lot of spinning blaming this on Remainers to which one Tory MP said well that was technically true because Truss.

[jeremyp]

Been quite a lot of spinning blaming this on Remainers to which one Tory MP said well that was technically true because Truss.

That's weird. I'm blaming Brexiteers.

[Nearly Sane]

That's weird. I'm blaming Brexiteers.

The Labour Party also to blame, apparently

[Udayana]

The Labour Party also to blame, apparently

The Tory Truss supporters and BBC journalists have been blaming anyone and everyone except the idiot creators of last Fridays "fiscal event".  The BoE has been trying to save the pension funds by buying back bonds/gilts but it itself is split as this will only cause the coming interest rises to be even higher.

This is what happens when you kick out or sit on all those stodgy treasury chaps trying to keep things steady.
 

[jeremyp]

The Tory Truss supporters and BBC journalists have been blaming anyone and everyone except the idiot creators of last Fridays "fiscal event".

Did you not see the BBC story I  posted where a BBC journalist laid the blame squarely at the door of the chancellor?

[Udayana]

Did you not see the BBC story I  posted where a BBC journalist laid the blame squarely at the door of the chancellor?

Ah.. I hadn't ...

Yes, Faisal Islam gets it. Mostly I've been listening to BBC interviewers dragging in economists, one after another, and asking if bankers, traders, ...anyone other than the chancellor, have got the wrong idea. Every one has responded by pointing back to the government. Eventually they seem to settle on "not overplaying" the situation.