Drink some ravioli juice?

Ooh that reminds me! Nice one Backhander!

(Scuttles off to supermarket)

Yeah, I was using the ACTUALLY get back.

Then you didn't write what you meant, which is unhelpful when discussing very complicated things using simple analogies. 🙂

I agree that it is unlikely that UK Financial Investments Limited would be ill-advised to try to offload all of its shareholding at the same time, and I quite understand that there are hefty financing costs associated with what was done. However, until someone explains cogently what the alternative to spending a massive amount of money on re-capitalising the banking system was, or explains how it could be funded without borrowing, I continue to think this wasn't all bad. 🙂

Surely the gov't has some clever accountants who can work out the ideal rate to sell shares at so that they minimise their depressing effect on the share price, whilst minimising the time it takes to sell them off so as to keep interest payments down on the deficit?

Would those be the clever accountants who advised Gordon when he sold off the gold? 😆

Well what the **** is it?!!! Its one or the other

Ah, but don't forget… they are "doing God's work", and they ask only that we accept this most Holy of Mysteries.

"Holy" in that it has lots of holes in it.

Give me a rifle – and a wall. 😈

That is the brilliance of what Brown has achieved in this crisis. A G20 wide approach to dealing with the problem, plus getting the dosh spent back with interest!!

Yeah but as I am sure you are aware, most of the electorate are too dim to recognise this. It's a bit like complaining that Churchill spent too much public money and ran the country to ruin.

Are you guys abit thick? You'd be better off using someone from down the bookies to put bets on the Grand National.

We're not thick, no. The banks were sound businesses, just with cashflow. Lloyds TSB has like a third of all UK mortgages, does it not, and a quarter of all UK savings or something. It still has those. The share price has gone up, and that's because all those brokers out there are valuing them. They don't just do that for a laugh, they look at the business.

And in any case.. the longer the govt holds onto the shares the more money it can make from dividends, no? 70% of the profits from a couple of enormous and profitable banks must be a fair amount of money, no?

Would those be the clever accountants who advised Gordon when he sold off the gold?

Must have been an ulterior motive. No other explanation. We are in the dark for most of this stuff, don't kid yourself.