Bankers 'Caused Credit Crisis for Kicks'
THE TELEGRAPH: Forget the thorny problems of risk, regulation and even reward: bankers blew up the financial system for the thrill of it, according to one British academic.


A New York trader holding his head in his hands in 2008, as the Dow Jones dropped below 9,000 for the first time in five years Photo: The Telegraph
With a theory that will alarm Business Secretary Vince Cable, Dr Paul Crosthwaite of Cardiff University has argued that bankers and other investors took on excessive risks not just to make money but for the "desire" and "exhilaration" of destruction.

"For its participants and speculators alike, the crash is not simply an object of fear or anxiety, or even of mere fascination, but also of an inchoate but urgent desire," Dr Crosthwaite wrote in an article published in Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities. Continue reading and comment >>> Louise Armitstead, Chief Business Correspondent | Saturday, October 23, 2010

I believe that these irresponsible gits should be jailed for causing such pain to others. The fact that they get such huge bonuses for their destruction just adds insult to injury. Fie on them all! – © Mark

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Angela Merkel Alarmed by Worsening Credit Crisis
THE TELEGRAPH: The German government is rushing through a fresh package of measures to shore up ailing banks and prevent a second wave of the debt crisis suffocating large parts of manufacturing industry.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel: fears of new crisis. Photograph: The Telegraph
"We are in a very critical situation," said Chancellor Angela Merkel in her weekly radio address. "We are going to discuss with leaders of the financial institutions what can be done to head off a credit crunch."

The move comes days after the Bundesbank revealed that German banks face a further €90bn (£82bn) of likely write-downs over the next year.

Leaders of the new coalition are to meet industrialists and bankers tomorrow to thrash out an emergency plan. The proposals include a €10bn scheme to purchase toxic securities from banks. The idea is anathema in Germany and faces stiff opposition from Mrs Merkel's Bavarian and liberal partners.

The renewed sense urgency follows a flurry of warnings from economists and business groups over the risks of a credit contraction. >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Monday, November 30, 2009

BMW Sales Dip More Than a Quarter
BMW logo courtesy of Google Images
BBC: German carmaker BMW has seen its global monthly sales fall by more than a quarter, as consumers tighten their belts amid the economic slowdown.

BMW brand sales fell 26.2% in November from the same month a year ago, said the firm, while sales of its UK-based Mini subsidiary declined 20.8%.

The firm has already said its Mini plant in Oxford will close on Friday for an extended Christmas shutdown.

It is closing the factory for four weeks instead of the usual two.

November sales at BMW's luxury Rolls-Royce arm were down 18.5%.

For the whole BMW group, sales fell 25.4% to 96,570 in November, compared with a much slower decrease of 8.3% to 113,005 in October. >>> | December 5, 2008

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The Party’s Over in Dubai
TIMESONLINE: Local banks are in trouble and property prices have crashed. Is the bubble about to burst?

Lorna Davidson and her husband Mike gave up Leicester for Dubai this summer looking for a better life. They didn’t find it. The marketing jobs they thought they had in a property firm were withdrawn the day after they arrived and they cannot find alternatives. Nor can they get a mortgage to buy a flat.

“We were told we had jobs at 25,000 dirhams (£5,000) a month and that we could get a property with a 10% deposit,” said Lorna, 24. “There are no jobs and the banks won’t lend without 40% upfront.”

It’s of little comfort to the Davidsons that they are not alone. After a few months when oil-rich Middle Eastern states seemed immune to the effects of the banking crisis and the global economic slow-down, the credit crunch has crashed on to the biscuity shores of the Gulf with the force of an economic tsunami.

With struggling local banks being bailed out, liquidity drying up, the property market transformed from a bazaar of eager buyers into a den of sellers, and the government creating a crisis committee to tackle the slump, observers are asking: is the Dubai bubble bursting?

“Confidence has collapsed,” said Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based think tank, the Gulf Research Center. Chris Dommett of John Charcol Dubai, a mortgage advisory firm, added: “People have really begun to fear a crash.” >>> John Arlidge | November 30, 2008

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Merkel Says Washington Helped Drag Europe into the Credit Crisis
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Response to Washington's multibillion-dollar Wall Street bailout has involved a lot of skeptical grumbling in Germany and the UK. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the Bush administration has mishandled Wall Street, and that its refusal to adopt stricter rules led to the current crisis.

The United States government is campaigning around the world for support for its multibillion-dollar Wall Street rescue package. The reaction has been skeptical at best -- and in Europe the plan has been met with bareknuckled criticism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has accused the US government of serious failures which she believes contributed to the current credit crisis. In particular she blamed Washington for resisting stricter regulation.

On Monday she also said the crisis could hurt the German economy. "The whole thing is going to set the pace for the economy in the coming months and perhaps years," Merkel said at a meeting of her party, the conservative Christian Democrats. Merkel Says Washington Helped Drag Europe into the Credit Crisis >>> dsl -- with wire reports | September 22, 2008

STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG ONLINE:
Deutschland beteiligt sich nicht an Hilfspaket: Berlin/Washington - Die Bundesregierung will sich nicht an dem gigantischen US-Rettungspaket für den Bankensektor beteiligen. Regierungssprecher Ulrich Wilhelm sagte, die aktuelle Krise habe ihre Ursache im US-Hypothekenmarkt und im Verbriefungsgeschäft. Man werde daher kein eigenes Programm zur Stabilisierung der Finanzmärkte auflegen und sich auch nicht an dem US-Paket beteiligen. Der republikanische Präsidentschaftskandidat John McCain sprach am Montag von der "schlimmsten Krise seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg." >>> AP | 22. September 2008

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE:
La Suisse contaminée par la crise financière : BANQUES | Rendement des caisses de pension, perte de confiance dans UBS ou cartes de crédit: nos habitudes vont changer. Les banques suisses, dont UBS, pourraient perdre quelque 650 millions à cause de Lehman Brothers. >>> Par Élisabeth Eckert, Pierre-Yves Frei et Philippe Rodrick| © TdG | 17.09.2008

TIMESONLINE:
Wall Street Falls Again as $700bn Bailout Is Delayed by Political Squabbling: Just after the collective sigh of relief was drawn following last week’s financial turmoil, a startling late plunge in the US stock market last night started a fresh wave of fears for banks, savers, pension holders and employees.

It had appeared that a $700 billion (£378 billion) bailout of the banking system announced by the US Government on Friday had restored some stability.

But the stock market euphoria generated by the plan disappeared yesterday as political squabbling over the terms of the rescue threatened to delay the Bill. A sudden surge in oil prices also unsettled the markets. >>> By Miles Costello and Leo Lewis in Tokyo | September 23, 2008

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The Fed Releases $200bn as Credit Crisis Hits New Depths
TIMES ONLINE: The global credit crisis plunged to new depths yesterday as persistent fears over the collapse of a large financial institution caused funding markets to dry up and forced the US Federal Reserve to make available up to $200 billion (£99.3 billion) of emergency financing.



The Fed said that a “rapid deterioration” in the credit markets in recent days had prompted it to begin a series of fresh cash injections in an effort to shore up the balance sheets of America’s stricken banks. Unemployment also shot up in the US last month, adding to the gloom. US stocks tumbled, dragging the Dow Jones industrial average down 138.40 points to 11.902.00. Treasury prices jumped and the dollar fell to record lows.



Bankers said that the moves underscored the deepening severity of the crisis, which was triggered last June by the collapse of the American sub-prime mortgage market and has got progressively worse since. One senior banker in London said: “This is the beginning of the real credit crisis and it’s not going to end without a major casualty.” US Fed releases $200bn as credit crisis hits new depths >>> By Siobhan Kennedy

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