Bank Royal Commission..

[casstony]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

I'll have to disagree with you about the 'health' of recessions. Having seen a big one up close and personal that certainly wasn't my grandparents take on them.
]

I think the recession you're referring to was a depression.

We can have periodic recessions to clear out malinvestment involving a little pain, or we can stave off recessions by pulling forward demand and eventually have a devastating depression, which is the current course.

[Orionskies (Julian)]

I reckon the greed of the banks is just a reflection of the greed of society as a whole. We ( myself included at times) all want the latest tech, car and home with mod cons we want it cheap and we want it now. Mass media, advertising shoves it down our throats your smart phone just told you what you need. And on top of all this we want our hospital , roads and schools in A1 condition at little cost.

So before you bash a bank tell yourself to take a look in the mirror.

On a rant
Julian

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

I remember growing up in the 60's, a Bank Manager was a ' highly regarded ' person in the Community

You'd be ' flogged ' if you said that now ....

Col..

[casstony]

Julian, the banks understand exactly how the financial system works, the plebs have no idea and the banks take advantage of our ignorance. Have no doubt that the condition of our economy is a top down phenomenon.

[Orionskies (Julian)]

Originally Posted by casstony

Julian, the banks understand exactly how the financial system works, the plebs have no idea and the banks take advantage of our ignorance. Have no doubt that the condition of our economy is a top down phenomenon.

Sure Tony absolutely the banks take advantage however the plebs have to learn how to just say NO. No to easy refinance , no to redraw to pay for the Xmas layby, no for the negative geared property on borrowed money.
Credit is so easy to obtain yes the banks need to have checks to not accumulate bad debt but so do consumers...

Thanks Julian

[clive milne]

Well... I think the only sensible solution is to privatise the social infrastructure of this country... what could possibly go wrong?

Their hearts in the in the right place after all.

[JA]

The banks have a licence to print money. Well almost, create it electronically out of thin air is more like it, and then charge us interest on money they never had. It's called Fractional Reserve Banking and it is an INCREDIBLE privilege / gift given to the banks by the government ... a real licence to "print" money. Banks can lend MANY times more money than they have on deposit, with multiples of 10x not unrealistic. If more understood what they are allowed to do and how they do it, there would be widespread uproar. Instead with a willing and paid for media there are plenty of distractions, with plenty of feel good /good corporate citizen bank advertising to convince the public otherwise.

Banks like to maintain their privileged position, that's why they'll support both sides. Sure let's take a close look at what they do by way of an inquiry or commission.

Best
JA

[clive milne]

^^^ Yep...
Another way to say that is Banks actually issue debt.

Moreover, there is not ever enough money in the system to pay back the debt. Therefore, the only way for the system to keep rolling is for it to borrow more money.

For an interesting trip down the rabbit hole, search for:
Subversion of the Bretton Woods agreement and the petro dollar.

[casstony]

After watching 4 Corners last night, I wonder if we'll see a class action against the banks over low doc loans to people the bank knew would have difficulty paying the loan back? Could be a rescue job for Slater & Gordon

[AndrewJ]

I wonder if we'll see a class action against the banks
Could be a rescue job for Slater & Gordon

That would be hilarious, considering S&G have just had a class action going against them for deceiving their own investors
Where do the grey area/corrupt activities really start stop when you wear a suit and are a "pillar of society"

Andrew

[AussieTrooper (Ben)]

Originally Posted by Orionskies

I reckon the greed of the banks is just a reflection of the greed of society as a whole. We ( myself included at times) all want the latest tech, car and home with mod cons we want it cheap and we want it now. Mass media, advertising shoves it down our throats your smart phone just told you what you need. And on top of all this we want our hospital , roads and schools in A1 condition at little cost.

So before you bash a bank tell yourself to take a look in the mirror.

On a rant
Julian

Yep. On a fairly regular basis we see someone complaining about how difficult it is to make ends meet...who then return to their 4 bedroom house, 2 cars, 100cm tv...

One great quote I saw was "The poorest people in this nation are fat. Let that fact sink in for a moment."

[Orionskies (Julian)]

Originally Posted by AussieTrooper

Yep. On a fairly regular basis we see someone complaining about how difficult it is to make ends meet...who then return to their 4 bedroom house, 2 cars, 100cm tv...

One great quote I saw was "The poorest people in this nation are fat. Let that fact sink in for a moment."

To add to this on that 4 corners program one of the experts summed it up
by saying never has banking conditions be so good low-interest loans it doesn't get any better than this yet 30% of mortgagees are facing mortgage stress now !

Greed is not good.

Julian

[casstony]

Take care not to focus on the little fish guys. While we're all prone to greed in varying degrees and often have ourselves to blame, young families are faced with difficult choices due to the banker/politician inspired real estate bubble. Youngsters are faced with the prospect of paying huge rents or taking out a huge loan.

Collectively we are conditioned to consume, we are not taught about responsible money management and we know nothing about market cycles. The banks take advantage of our ignorance, turning individuals into debt slaves and white-anting the foundation of our economy. I choose to blame the puppet masters, not the little fish.

Note the barefaced lies and deceptions from the ANZ CEO on 4 Corners. He knows he's directly responsible for the unsustainable debt of the nation and individuals yet he feigned innocence.

More than one US president has made a statement to the effect that the banks are more dangerous to a nation than standing armies. A large part of that danger stems from the fact that damage banks do is unseen until it's too late.

[casstony]

Originally Posted by Orionskies

To add to this on that 4 corners program one of the experts summed it up
by saying never has banking conditions be so good low-interest loans it doesn't get any better than this yet 30% of mortgagees are facing mortgage stress now !

Greed is not good.

Julian

The low interest rates are part of the problem. If rates had been near historical norms we wouldn't have had the bubble, loans would be much smaller, rents would be lower and less mortgages would be underwater.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Originally Posted by casstony

The low interest rates are part of the problem. If rates had been near historical norms we wouldn't have had the bubble, loans would be much smaller, rents would be lower and less mortgages would be underwater.

But then the Aussie dollar would be through the roof, our exports would be overpriced and slowed to a trickle, and we would be importing more because we could buy things cheaper-our balance of trade would be abysmal!
There are no easy answers

[casstony]

The low interest rates, first home buyer grants and no or low loan deposit requirements put the housing bubble into overdrive, creating the pretence of a healthy economy but paid for by our children. Better to have less stimulus today so there's less debt to repay tomorrow.

[Orionskies (Julian)]

Originally Posted by casstony

Take care not to focus on the little fish guys. While we're all prone to greed in varying degrees and often have ourselves to blame, young families are faced with difficult choices due to the banker/politician inspired real estate bubble. Youngsters are faced with the prospect of paying huge rents or taking out a huge loan.

Collectively we are conditioned to consume, we are not taught about responsible money management and we know nothing about market cycles. The banks take advantage of our ignorance, turning individuals into debt slaves and white-anting the foundation of our economy. I choose to blame the puppet masters, not the little fish.

Note the barefaced lies and deceptions from the ANZ CEO on 4 Corners. He knows he's directly responsible for the unsustainable debt of the nation and individuals yet he feigned innocence.

More than one US president has made a statement to the effect that the banks are more dangerous to a nation than standing armies. A large part of that danger stems from the fact that damage banks do is unseen until it's too late.

Exactly. Banks definitely can share their fair proportion of the blame for the current financial situation. Banks have always had an elitest culture , self regulated and they know the Government has always got their backs particular the Big 4.

Cheers
Julian.