Talking of incredible, the take-over of HBoS is another one. The Bank of Scotland is such an institution here. It was founded in 1695 by an Act of the pre-Union Scots Parliament and has been tied up with so much of Scotland's history, including the Darien trade adventures which saw us get in such a mess we had to sell up to England in 1707.I do find the argument for Scottish independence rather risible in the wake of the past few weeks; we are all so interconnected, I don't see what it would bring economically, but then, it's not really an economic argument, is it?
I do find these times somehow exciting, and I know I can say this as I have nothing to lose. I really do hope it will bring a sea change in attitudes and we will rebalance some of our materialistic excesses. That is probably rather naive - I realise I am quite young as this will be the first big downturn I've lived through on the job market. It has happened before and we've gone back to being the same greedy humans as always!!
Whether I'll find these times quite so exciting when I don't get one of these jobs and have to go live with my Dad in Montrose is quite another story. Perhaps my original plans may have to be shelved for a while, and I'll need to head back to the economic power centre / vortex that is London. We'll see; all will be clearer in the next few weeks. It is so true that the only certainty in life is uncertainty and change. It's awesome.
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I'm with you - I've got nothing to lose, and find it interesting to watch the fat cats squirm!
An economy based on credit and 'confidence' still seems to me somewhat of a hopeful model. Guess we'll see what happens, one things for sure in my mind - a government stepping in and simply buying the bad debt at the cost to the tax payers seems laughable!
Although the more I read, the more I it seems that's the way it's been for a while, it's all funny money pie in the skye, it's just whether we believe it's there or not. I got this interesting mail on the ethics of the bail out. I'll send it you, quite thought-provoking. There is no easy answer. You in NZ yet?
In the US depression people were throwing themselves off the roofs of buildings. Our love of money ans status runs very deep in the west.
These anonymous comments always intrigue me! I do hope it doesn't get to people throwing themselves off buildings. Jez posted a comment through fb with a pic of a middle-class western woman clutching her children, with an anguished look on her face. We could well see a fair amount of that. Still, I hope out of some of this there will be positive change.
Hi caught your blog through a mutual friend and enjoyed reading about your skiing exploits - very jealous!
you'll be so impressed Han that I've even been keeping an ear out while over here!! haha. And I have nothing to lose either as I have no money. Only thing I'm worried about now (slightly) is how long it may take to sell dad's house.....and here's another quote for you "we cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand" hope to catch up with you properly soon. I'm doing a play in Glasgow next weekend - 17/18 - any chance you were free to come through and see it? (I now realise this is an email convo rather than a blog comment - oops sorry x
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