How the Banks Won

How the Banks Won

2010, Economics  -   34 Comments
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Ratings: 8.25/10 from 40 users.

How the Banks WonAs the government prepares an emergency budget to help pay for the bank bailout, Will Hutton investigates the banks and what they've done with our money. He discovers that while ordinary taxpayers take the pain, for the banks it's largely business as usual.

Hutton analyses the banks' accounts and shows how they are using government-guaranteed funds to gamble with derivatives as they did before the crash. He also reveals how the banks are still paying vast salaries and bonuses, and City head hunters tell Dispatches how the banks hide the sums they're really paying out.

With the help of former and current members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, Hutton shows how the banks' booming margins come from the free and near-free money the government and taxpayers gave them to save the banking system. He also investigates the banks' intense lobbying to resist government plans for reform and highlights recent research from the OECD on how Britain is internationally unusual in the extent to which bankers have key roles in the civil service and government.

Featuring high-powered contributors such as President Obama's banking advisor Paul Volcker, former Chancellor Alastair Darling, former City minister Lord Myners and current Business Secretary Vince Cable, Hutton shows why without urgent reform we risk the prospect of another crash - this time there won't be any money left for a bail-out - plus the certainty of British business being starved of vital funding. With the Eurozone crisis fueling fears of another banking crash, this programme is an urgent and shocking call to action.

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DustUp
DustUp
7 years ago

If you got screwed by a bank you want vengeance... understood but likely your efforts better spent finding positive way forward in your life. I've been screwed by market manipulators(banks). It burns but you have to let it go or it eats you.

To me [UkPhil] has the good freedom loving attitude towards the situation. If you don't like the big banks don't use those big banks. Further, it seems more helpful to bring about their demise getting the word out on better alternatives rather than just saying there are some. Appreciate those that tried.

Although they are more customer oriented, many credit unions will fail along with the banks when the next banking crisis hits, causing an economic crisis. Loans to customers who then lose their jobs in such a crisis does not make for a sound place to store ones money.

The video via Volcker and others suggests separating the trading arms from the commercial or deposit arm of the bank. That used to be the case in the usa before congress, at the request of the bank lobby, allowed the Glass-Steagall act to be repealed. The act established in 1933 usa to prevent such banking crisis was repealed in 1999 putting us all at grave risk, on purpose. The puppet masters want to take your dough. They don't want to give it back. They don't want you to have any. Money is freedom and power in this day and age. You are deemed not worthy to have any of that so to be able to resist their plans.

To opine that we need to get away from money is nice but even prisoners find a need to have a medium of exchange; cigarettes or whatever. Which is more detestable cigarettes or fiat currency? If I were a retail shop owner I wouldn't particular relish a truckload of chickens from a chicken farmer to pay for a car or some other item; nor cigarettes, nor fiat paper debt dollars, sterling, euros, etc.

What is needed is a currency that cannot be inflated or deflated at the whim of the banksters for their gain at our expense. That is why the founders of the usa stipulated gold to be the only currency. Great idea but it also has problems. Is it real or fake? The expense to get it assayed every time you wanted to spend it would be prohibitive. The reasons those in Cyprus during their crisis, who had gold, ended up selling it for far less than they thought it was worth in order to get paper cash that the retailers would accept. And who wants to carry gold around? The invention of the Debit card seems sane ...if tied to a gold account held in a place that does NOT make loans. Converting banks to depositories that just charge a service for storage and transactions would eliminate a lot of fast and looseness with our dough. Credit cards are another drain on peoples' lives we don't really need. What the hay is wrong with living within one's means?

What about buying a house or car that you cannot afford? The prices would come way down if one was forced to save up until you had the money to plunk down on it. Bank credit is how inflation is accelerated. Denying credit, loan defaults, and bank defaults is how deflation is accelerated. What is the rat race but trying to keep up with inflation and not defaulting during deflation, apart from living beyond one's means? We all might be more friendly if we knew what we had on deposit wasn't at risk and worrying about it losing value or disappearing.

Is the tried and true "pay as you go" method so vile as to be unacceptable? The investment banks would still be free to exist same as stock, bond, and commodity or futures brokers, as separate entities where you have to take what ever amount of gold you want to risk and hand it over to them. Although I'm sure that would be deemed unacceptably inconvenient, it certainly would put realism onto what you were doing. The elimination of fractional reserve banking of any type along with the elimination of fiat paper currencies would stabilize any economy and reduce much of these types of problems ...until the banksters buy the govt again while the people do nothing and do their best to remain ignorant by watching the bankster owned media.

hossaingoni
hossaingoni
8 years ago

Really are writing a excellent writing, But in every case i can't agree with you.Otherwise, i become the fan of your thoughts.

DIMOJABE
DIMOJABE
9 years ago

Here in the USA, the bankers (owned and controlled by the elite families) are purchasing up the means of the production of food. My only critique of this documentary is that they basically discuss the skirmishes and the ammunition... but they completely fail to discuss the core ownership of all of these banks in The City.

The core ownership/Boards of Directors of these banks are calling the shots. We deserve to know exactly who they are, their interrelationships, who they have installed in the government to operate on their behalf, etc. That would be real journalism.

Steven Fraser
Steven Fraser
9 years ago

Bankers need to be taken out into the streets and hung from lamp posts. That's the only way these psychopaths will learn.

Nathan (aka) yhwhzson
Nathan (aka) yhwhzson
10 years ago

When a person is an addict he/she cares not for anything except the addiction!

When the person (in this case the banker[s]) has a gambling addiction it is just as destructive. The denial is infinite. But when the gambling addict has no rock bottom and is spoiled by constant bail out by his/her family then you have a black hole that sucks in everything. Their home(Nation) is lost, family (society) suffers divorce after suffering financial (economic) ruin, and his/her parents (Governments) go broke foolishlyand blindly supporting and spoiling the gambling addict.

The banking industry needs a global gamblers anonymous program. Except they should not be allowed to be anonymous.

manfruss
manfruss
11 years ago

"Greed is good." ~ Gordon Gecko.

Those who have power, fear to lose it. I hope there is grass root movements. The Foundering fathers of the States set up the constitution with the hope and belief that the American people would stand up, and would need to stand up against their government as it corrupted. Marriage of Business and State is as unhealthy for a population as marriage of Church and State.

James Irvine
James Irvine
11 years ago

how long until the european spring? is the plan to more closely monitor the internet being made because they know its inevitable, also I wonder just how hyprocritcal they will be, i bet its a bloodbath, maybe this is why they are trying to reduce feelings of nationism and diluting populations, this could be a solution to the problem of soldiers not killing their own people, if they have no feelings towards them then why not, little bit of propoganda is all that will be required to help them along with this, there are lots of other advantages of globalisation like outsourcing jobs to countries which pay the lowest wages, how long until they start employing people in prison to do high street jobs to make bigger profits for the people at the top? I forgot they are already trying to get it through parliament, I could go on all day and is it really wise to let people know you are on to them, seriously why do you think detaining people under the terrorism act without charging them is so good for this regime

uriel81
uriel81
12 years ago

The Death Star always the same: it is powered by free money: in the ponzi scheme phase they use $$$$ from flipping worthless junk mortgages rated AAA+ by S&P who they paid to do it. While in the crash they use free QE money printed by our countries' soverign debt to flip commodities and properties to only profit leeches, not investing in business. We need to pull the rims off their Maybach and Nationalize these parasites.

Monica Cabrero
Monica Cabrero
12 years ago

Can´t personally understand this: QUOTE: "Get the banks working and help the public".....(From David Blanchflower....) is this true? Most of the money has disappeared, it looks like the money printed out by the Bank of England and then provided to these poor banks..... HAS AGAIN VANISHED.....it is really a shame that this can be done without any control-QUANTITIVE EASING.....not a good, safe system in my very modest opinion....FREE WHEELING again in derivatives world!

I used to work in the City, derivatives lawyer, for more than 14 years, I used to sit behind a desk....with 2 computers, phones.....and now I live in Spain, unemployed with no prospect of having a job, never mind a banking job........

What next....

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Bwarff! I give up. It's boring. Takes too long to developpe his scenario!

Rainmaker
Rainmaker
12 years ago

Many people say here put your money "under mattresses", "in a hole", "into a jar" as alternatives to investing in financial markets. Don't label and blame the whole economy of what the banks are doing! Just invest the money you have in a REAL life business, make the money work in the REAL SECTOR, and avoid financial markets. That simple. Manufacturing is what creates the real value in this world, while financial markets create bubbles.

Robert159
Robert159
12 years ago

this is all over the world, i think it's funny people talk how they fear when the nwo comes.truth is it's been here and anymore nations are diversity along with race ,creed,and religion.
they call it divide and conquer and the top 1% have been working that little devil for a long time now.
we have a option we need to get together as a world people,stop war and work towards the progression of the human race.and leave the pursuit of monetary gain.we need to kill the bank worldwide and thats the only way it can happen.

Luis Fernando
Luis Fernando
13 years ago

Good quality documentarie... Good work keep on...cheers

TDD_99
TDD_99
13 years ago

Watch the first two "Zeitgeist" movies and you'll understand how to change this f...up world.

Freedom FTW!

ukphil
ukphil
13 years ago

Sounds plane and simple to me if you don't like the Banks and the huge bonuses that they pay there people then don't use them.
There are other alternatives to Banks.
Stop using them and then they will have no money to pay big bonuses.

leonardobdas
leonardobdas
13 years ago

Here we are having the main stream media smacking people's with a show about how a powerful combination of interests of banks and government stole money from them. Where are the protests? Life is too easy, why fight? as long as the the heat runs in the winter and the market sells cheese doodles...

Jo McKay
Jo McKay
13 years ago

Well done!