One eyed scottish idiot

[hogmaw]

I'm with Tannhauser. To mock someone because of their disability and infer that they are an idiot due to that is nothing short of wrong, regardless of who they are.

 

Clarkson should know better. Celebs like him are not normal people who can talk bo11ocks in the pub without fear of repercussions, what they say goes down on the written record and has influence on many, many people and their opinions. Once you're a celeb you have to watch what you say, end of.

[ufop]

I wonder if Gordon Brown did actually see this whole crisis coming? but then with vision out of only one eye he couldnt actually see when it was going to happen because of the lack of depth perception?

 

I wonder when Clarkson will go into politics?

[Tannhauser]

Until this news report i had no idea Gordon Brown had one eye.

 

See JamesMark's posts on this very thread. He doesn't have one eye.

[suprasam77]

i love clarkson! i wish he was my dad.

[suprasam77]

 

I'm sure you'll also agree that bailing out the UK banks was not such a great idea too. I'm sure all the bank bosses and their 6 figure sum bonuses (of our money) will be laughing 'all the way to the bank' actually

 

um no it was the only choice he had otherwise alot of people would loose alot of money

[ivan]

um no it was the only choice he had otherwise alot of people would loose alot of money

It wasn't the only choice at all.

How about let the damn banks fail but bail out the investors instead? That way only the guilty suffer.

[DaveK]

It wasn't the only choice at all.

How about let the damn banks fail but bail out the investors instead? That way only the guilty suffer.

 

I think the implications of the banks collapsing would be very great.

 

I do agree that the bank bosses should not be awarding themselves huge bonuses though. However - I also think the fact that they are can't be blamed on the PM when he's made exactly the same point himself.

[marbleapple]

Yeah, it's great ripping on a bloke who managed to complete a stellar academic career despite almost losing his sight completely. One -eyed tw*t.

 

If Clarkson's the typical English man, God help us. An egotistical, pig-ignorant, bigoted, wilfully stupid, self-serving. lying celebrity suck-ass, a role model for every xenophobic spoiled-brat man-child in the nation. He's entertaining enough, granted, but he abuses that to back every wrong-headed agenda imaginable.

 

[Tannhauser]

Right, a bit of a long response, but I like to get into the nitty-gritty of things.

 

well, 'objective' in the way that JC may have 'observed' how this man has ruined the UK economy?

 

'Observed' does need to be put into inverted commas, as this is an inference, not an observation. In my view, it's a false one.

 

Therefore JC has then made his own conclusion that he is an idiot, just like the French premier has more or less stated recently with regards to brown's decision to cut UK VAT.

Germany's government also stated that VAT cuts would do absolutely nothing. They made this public knowledge about a week after brown made the drop from 17.5%

 

But Sarkozy didn't say he's an idiot at all, did he? He said that the VAT cuts hadn't worked, which seems to be correct. There's a difference between criticising a policy and concluding that the person instituting it is an idiot.

 

So if other well established governments are telling brown that he is making wrong decisions, and he is basically riding his own 'high horse' and dogmatic views, then I would say it is a fair comment to say that he is an idiot.

 

So, economic experts disagree on the best way of tackling incredibly complex and intricate issues. Governments are expected to do something in the face of huge shifts in the global economy.Yet in other areas of policy, Brown was widely and publicly praised for his boldness. A leader is judged bold so long as things seem to be going right, but dogmatic as soon as they don't.

 

To me, an idiot is a stupid or incompetent person. So if he had said 'George Bush is an idiot', that would have been more accurate. Although Bush is clearly not stupid in comparison to the general population, for a world leader he was very poorly informed and educated. To level that accusation at Brown just doesn't make sense.

 

The pound is more or less still at 1:1 with the euro, so the decisions that France and Germany have made are obviously allowing their economy to ride the credit crunch better than the UK.

 

I think you're right, but not in the sense you mean. Britain has gone down an American road of free-market economics - an unrestrained shareholder economy. It has also shied away from greater economic links with Europe and followed an American model. The European model has tradionally been for greater government intervention in the market. In France's case, they have been fiercely protective of home grown industry (e.g. their film industry). So they have been less exposed to the problems in the US led globalised markets.

 

It isn't the decisions that they made since the credit crunch started that have made the difference.

 

I'm sure you'll also agree that bailing out the UK banks was not such a great idea too. I'm sure all the bank bosses and their 6 figure sum bonuses (of our money) will be laughing 'all the way to the bank' actually!

 

I don't know that I do agree, because I don't know what would have happened otherwise.

 

See, that's the thing, I've got a really limited understanding of economic theory, as have most people on here and as has Clarkson. So whilst I'm happy to voice my opinion in this closed little world, I'm acutely aware that I don't have a deep understanding of the issues.

 

JC gets an awful lot of exposure and a lot of people don't really get the fact that he is constantly offering opinions on subjects that he knows next to nothing about. That's the cult of celebrity, I suppose - the substance or honesty of what you say doesn't matter, so long as there is a big personality saying it.

[Tannhauser]

 

Excellent, I think that's the first time we've agreed on anything

[Carl_S]

Nice dissection Tannhauser. I am left with the sight of a bloody operating table with bits of organs lying around though.

[Pete]

I don't know that I do agree, because I don't know what would have happened otherwise.

The only other time we faced economic melt down to this scale I think was The Great Depression following Black Tuesday in 1929.

 

After looking at what went wrong they thought the banks failing to lend was a major contributing factor. My guess is someone looked at history and decided the first thing they needed to do was prop up the banks and keep them lending.

No doubt that various people have benefited tremendously from this as there always are people that can make an advantage out of other peoples misery.

[mathew]

this seems to be another one of those scenarios where the public are getting more offended by the comments rather than the person they are aimed at. although i can see where they are coming from as being described as a one eyed scottish idiot is the worst, most offensive insult ive ever heard!

[DaveK]

After looking at what went wrong they thought the banks failing to lend was a major contributing factor. My guess is someone looked at history and decided the first thing they needed to do was prop up the banks and keep them lending.

 

The thing is though - and I freely admit I don't understand how the economy works - if I was a bank, the reduced interest rates would make me even more nervous about lending.

 

Mr X might be able to pay a mortgage with a record low 1% interest rate, but he's going to get one hell of a shock when it returns to the 4 or 5% which is more normal. What's the point of lending to new people when the repayments are so abnormally low? It just makes people think they can afford more than they really can (e.g. Oooh - we can get a mortgage AND still afford a new car!).

[Pete]

if I was a bank, the reduced interest rates would make me even more nervous about lending.

I don't pretend to understand it either, I wish I did understand it more.

 

The interest rate set by BoE is very different to the massive cash injection given to prop up the banks.

I'm sure they're still making a fair bit of cash from loans and c/cards. Barclays sent me an offer yesterday - I can walk into a bank and get a loan same day - at 21.9%.

 

When I say get the banks lending, I don't mean to you and me, but on a much larger scale to business and other financial institutions.

[Hermit]

I don't pretend to understand it either, I wish I did understand it more.

...

When I say get the banks lending, I don't mean to you and me, but on a much larger scale to business and other financial institutions.

 

Seems we learn something new about global economics every day during this crisis, that we just don't hear about otherwise.

 

I read this the other day, which is a perfect example of the kind of lending that needs to be available:

 

The Baltic Cape-Size Index, which measures the cost of shipping coal, iron ore, and steel across the high seas, is still languishing 90% below its record high of 19,200 points, set back in May 2007.

 

Why? Because global bankers suspended issuing the "letters of credit" that importers and exporters rely upon to finance their overseas trade. Of the $14.5 trillion of cargo that is shipped across the oceans each year, roughly nine-tenths is financed with "letters of credit" issued by bankers, guaranteeing payment to the shipper once shipments are delivered to the buyer.

 

So with banks cutting off "letters of credit", the wheels of global shipping have ground to a halt.

 

http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/gold_depression_020620097

[Paul]

Excellent, I think that's the first time we've agreed on anything

 

I don't agree (but you're still my hero with all the posh, clever talk )

[Nick]

I don't think the Clinton administration playing around with the Community Reinvestment Act helped the so called "free market".