Post Capitalism

I was castigated recently by the acquisitions department of our Library Service. (That must have been painful...Ed)
To continue. I had suggested Post Capitalism by Paul Mason as a suitable volume for the worthy burghers, neo-marxists and no good boyos of the county. A very swift reply advised me that 

 'Our Stock Team have responded, saying that they have ordered a copy of this title for our stock. They added that it is not yet published, and also noted that the correct title has the words elided i.e. Postcapitalism'.

As frequently happens when I am wrong I play out the Philosopher's Gambit in my head as a first defence.
Oh really! I was in fact looking for that book which discusses the role of capitalism in the fencing industry and it's effect on the restraint of beasts after the enclosure of the commons. Of course, silly me, that is by the renowned economic historian Paul E. J. Mason. However, I realised that my gross moral turpitude was compounded not by a lack of elision but a failure to concatenate.

The Grauniad has a wee video of Oor Pauli here. He looks well, Postauntieism seems to suit him.

In other parts of the meja jungle I see the Pinkun has gone east. I hope they retain the Saturday Xwd, one of the few cryptics that I can still do!

What a good idea!

The Grauniad economics blog comes up with a publication about Local Authority Pension Funds. Ok, no snoring at the back there. The Secret Wealth Garden is an argument about how to organise and deploy large amounts of moolah. I knew that would get your interest, especially when it could be your moolah! Now this is not an attempt on our part at BPinc moolah services to muscle in on the raft of ponzi schemes, hard luck stories by putative, wealthy Nigerians, activities of  the deregulated offshore tax dodging uber gougers, or other delights. Speaking of which the man on the Adam Smith Omnibus is pretty sniffy about it which is praise indeed and if I had not been around the block a few times might be sufficient recommendation. In any case here are a few wee flowers. Other gardens are available.

Driving Over Bitter Lemons.

"Cyprus? What Cyprus?"
Mr Murphy nails most of it with this link, as usual, I love the sound of the money Swissing by at the end!

"See the Euro's turned out nice again."

Don't be stupit or a zafty  go to Cyprus and get crafty
(Zafty: A person very easily imposed upon)
Final word in this listed link from Mr Forsyth. Is the site significant, death and taxes?

Nick Shaxon may supply some answers, including quotes from the laureated Mr Krugman. If you really want to worry your socks off, Google the FT on Security aspects of Moscow Gold Plate in the Med!!

(Right having got that off your chest do you think we can get this blog back on track, you know, promoting world peace and justice, the arts, culture, fluffy stuff like that... Ed?)

Quite so!
I have thought for some time that the watch phrase for the new left should be :-
Impuestos o Muerte; don't eat the rich, tax 'em!
Step one:-  you cap my benefits I cap your tax allowances.

Falling Standards

Post at Nick's excellent blog caught my eye ( I wonder why...Ed?)
The “whore’s drawers” and the Libor scandal – a tale of two cultures

On the trading floor at Buddhist Pizza Inc we would never have used such a tasteless phrase.
It would, of course, have been the bride's nightie.

For those seeking titillation and (horse) flesh no pornography was used in the making of this blog.
(Is that a fact. I'm glad to hear it... Ed!)

A Shell of Myself

Shells, don't you just love 'em

Shell companies, now that is another matter. A blog  by Nick Shaxson on the ever popular Treasure Islands site gives the details but I prefer to let my imagination roam.
The companies - Unbeliezeable,  Delawho;  the officers are Umberto and Desiree, your name will never be mentioned!?
Umberto will do what you tell him to do... Also included in the starter pack was a resignation letter signed by Desiree
undated!
The reporters start to have fun with things they might be able to do. “Can we have Unbelizeable sue Delawho?”
However there are safeguards and due diligence will be done.

“The beneficial owner promises that the company will not be used for the purposes of distributing drugs, money washing, financing of terrorism, production and/or distribution of kiddy porn, and some other activity that you are promising not to run through Unbelizeable.”

Oh Yeah!
So Senor Zeta do you swear to be a good boy, a very good boy?
You may wholesale huge quantities of non prescription medications, be in the premature undertaking business, sex, rock and roll, not necessarily consensual, with the liddle people but you would never lie would you? Good I'm glad we have established that.
Now we can do bidness together and, if you wan, Desiree can have your babies!
Ocala!

Lest We Forget

Last year I referred (Somewhat disparagingly I thought... Ed) to graphs concerning the economy.
Ann Pettifor has returned to the subject and blogged her notes for a presentation to a conference entitled Just Banking.
Ha! Ha!

The arguments are well worth trawling through if you have any doubts at all that it is going to be a cold, cold winter.
The ground is also being prepared to blame us and those like us for the pickle we are in. The idea that it was a big boy called Gordie wot did it, and ran away, can only stretch so far in the collective Alzheimer syndrome that clouds The Mail, The Current Bum and the Torygraph! So now:-

Blaming the Victim
And, it is implied, those responsible for this spontaneous combustion are the victims.
‘Sub-prime borrowers’ are frequently named and blamed. Michigan hairdressers on $7 an hour with a mortgage sold fraudulently by the agents of banks at a very high rate of interest – are the innocents deemed culpable of bursting the vast global credit bubble.
Blame has been passed from criminal to victim: from the private banking system to government and to the public sector.

And for those who like to see pictures, graphs even...

Busy Bees

Lloyd's Bank in BSE has a sign which incorporates a bee hive.

This goes back to the name of the bank before it was absorbed into Lloyds
The bank may be absorbed into the Coop Bank as the TSB(ee).
Ho Ho.
Nice though for us romantics - cooperation, mutuality, bees (workers, queens, drones, fleets of drones no doubt; see where all that misty eyed nonsense has got you... Ed)

Wealth of Nations?

John Naughton has a link to a very clear description,a 'cartoon assisted' video, of how to make money in America.
By turns it is amusing, informing, enraging and dispiriting. The little people at the end have such sad confused looks on their faces. Arise ye starvelings.

Grown up cartoonary seems to be a very powerful instructional and polemical device. I've seen it used to great effect recently.

Embrace Political Stability

Our Great Horseperson, The Sun reader in our hearts has, with Comrade Gideon, produced a 5 year financial plan. Rejoice!
Each journey, no matter how long, begins with one small step. We are about to set out on an economic adventure which, in less enlightened times, would be called a miracle!
There may be Socialist Roaders, grey power revisionists, even enobled comrades who have given in to the crime of Tebbitism who wish to take the broad mass of the people to depths of socialist depravity. Do not let them tempt you with promises of a return to the horror of keynesian growth. Tax and spend is the road to ruin.

Ithankyouandgoodnight.

Algo Wars :- Life at the Planck Length

I read the article by Donald MacKenzie, How to Make Money in Microseconds: Algo-Sniffing ( in the LRB 19 May 2011) again recently after watching the TED video by Kevin Slavin: How algorithms shape our world
I see the Algo Wars as part of the general carnage unfettered capitalism can produce. Interesting, therefore that the cosmological speed limit (300,000 km/s less change) figures in the calculations of once and future masters of the universe. How long before the fabric of space-time constrains the ability to make money from making money? I don’t suppose the markets are going to be worried about the Plank Length for some time to come.

It did get me thinking. Perhaps we should redefine ‘thickness’ in terms of 3 Plancks with a banker's clog on!

The Bullingdon Budget

I'm sure Gideon will not let his friends down. May I wish you all a very prosperous new (tax) year.
To welcome it in you could  do worse than listen to

No Banker Left Behind by Ry Cooder on the album: Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down

but it may not be to your taste!

Forbidden Apples

Don't you just love capitalism?
Who's been taking a bite out of those little green apples?
Meanwhile something hot and steamy in the Caribbean in connection with a Mr Cashcroft's (?) banking facilities.
I'm glad Buddhist Pizza Inc got its bonuses in early, away from the glare of the anti capitalist spotlight.
I know a boutique bank  in Waziristan. The manager is so helpful on these occasions and it is so far for the wrong type of financial journalists to go! (Discrete Inquiries through the usual channels please!)

Happy Fines

The Pinkun' (FT January 12, 2012 9:55 pm SFO targets criminal company dividends.)  reports that Inspector Knacker has felt the collar of Mabey Engineering Holding to the tune of £131,201. (No, I'm not suggesting bribery and corruption at the SFO!) This is claimed to be the dividend paid by Mabey & Johnson,  which has previously admitted to corruption. According to the FT, it is the first time the boys in pinstripe have tried to recover proceeds of crime from UK dividends.
Small Beer - Large Brewery!

Allo, Allo, Allo!
Mr Buddhist Pizza would you mind explaining this item on your bank statement?
"Payment via Banco Cayenne of dividend by Narcotraficantes Colombia SSA - $1,000,000.01"

Err, not without assistance from my financial and legal advisors.
(Note to Ed. Who let those jackbooted, pinstriped, storm troopers in? I mean pink silk ties and red braces!)

Whoa!

To coin a phrase!
Missed this one - Bitcoin

More here and before you get as excited as I did Charles Arthur has the wet-blanket handy.
Still, nice idea. Having just read DarkMarket by Misha Glenny it may be some time before Buddhist Pizza announces the adoption of Bitcoin as the official currency.
Not until the penny drops!

Risk! What Risk?

A Mr Krugman writes in his sometimes technical but always enlightening blog that he concurs with a Mr Haldane of the Bank of England. The latter opines that much of the present crisis may be put down to the increased appetite of the banking classes for risk, high risk, the risk of a high-wire act. Whyfor should such said classes of person subject themselves to danger of this kind. My own view is that the present system of remuneration among these folk (based on greed, avarice and the existence of schemes for the avoidance of redistributive taxation) encourages, nay handsomely rewards, the beggars and of course our leaders our own dear democratically elected leaders shuffle the blame, cost and pain for this on to our heads, hearts and wallets.

I think I will join Mr Krugman in vegetable chopping therapy.

Equality

An interesting presentation by Richard Wilkinson on material drawn the book The Spirit Level which he co-authored with Kate Pickett. Lots of good stuff about the link between a relative measure of inequality (the ratio of top to bottom incomes) and various measures of health, happiness, well being and social cohesion in developed economies. And since you asked the more unequal by this measure a society is the greater the problems and measures of the problems. Oh, possibly suicide may be a problem that runs counter to this. Good empirical stuff. See the Equality Trust and its publications. As you can imagine, lots of people want to pick a fight over it. Well they would. wouldn't they.

Heard a bit about tick boxes recently in connection with tax matters. Wilkinson had a nice idea to put forward. A tick box, optional, on tax returns to indicate people and companies would allow information to become a matter of public record. Nice one. We could start, of course, with the disclosure as a matter of public record, the ratio of tax paid to income. Voluntary, to begin with and qualifications in full, 'my dog ate the major part of my income last year'!

Taxonomics

The Buddhist Pizza College of Higher Taxonology (AKA The College of Knowledge or CoK) is pleased to announce an additional course in its extensive curriculum.

Taxonomics may be of interest to all those of means who have been disappointed in the current round of applications to less regarded institutions of learning. The objective of the course in is to ensure that the graduands go out into a harsh world with a firm grasp on their money and that of others, of course.

A quick example of the value we can bring. There have been attempts to collect more and more tax from fortunate individuals who have taken advantage of the superb tax environment offered by the Swiss authorities. The course will demonstrate how it is possible to adjust wealth lodged in this jurisdiction well before the 2013 deadline as easily as adjusting ones dress! The areas of offshore, transfer pricing, opacity, obscurity in corporate structure and beneficial non attributable ownership are pursued with legal and accounting rigour and extensive practical working examples. It has not been confirmed yet but we hope to have an inaugural lecture by a well known speaker on the personal benefits of the anonymous double trust. At this stage I can say no more! There will be extensive seminars, lectures and tutorials with highly regarded and
successful individuals who are conversant with individual tax havens, globalisation and the opportunities offered by development aid. We will not be offering input from the islands surrounding this one that have provided excellent service in the past. We feel their time is over and real wealth is moving elsewhere. While the Corporation of the City of London has been singled out for some criticism we feel it has created the right democratic structure, enterprise environment and business opportunity for the creation of serious money. We will take advantage of that and the opportunities offered by certain states in the USA. A field trip to the Cayenne Islands, where our sister enterprise Buddhist Pizza Inc. is incorporated and has its magnificent headquarters alongside Fast Willy’s Chicken Diner. In the interest of global development we will take at least one meal there, gratuities not included.

The theoretical underpinning of the course is that public expenditure is a giant Ponzi scheme and anything one can do to avoid contributing will bring benefits to the individual, society and the moral purpose of same. The emphasis is, of course, on avoidance. This is, as we all know, perfectly legal or as perfectly legal as armies of m'learned friends are able to demonstrate. It is tiresome to have to keep repeating this point but there are those who continually harp on about examples of legal actions that may well provoke moral repugnance and outrage! There are also those who claim to have identified a, so called, Tax Gap and suggested that this could be used to cure some of the current ills of the near perfect system of Capitalism we are evolving. The assertion that the existence of this Gap is akin to running a shop or business where rich customers choose what they will pay, if anything, for goods and services while less fortunate pay the full whack is bizarre. If only, but clearly not the case.

We are certain that at the completion of the course graduates will have increased their personal wealth by a factor of 1,000 in ways which will maximise its earning power in tax obscurity and secure it in perpetuity, safe from the ravening maw of the revenue man. I'm sure you will agree that is a challenging and intellectually rewarding task. Well worth the £100,000 fee we would expect to trouser as a private organisation. We are a charity registered in the Cayenne Isles and as a result, bursaries are only available to residents of that jurisdiction who satisfy the Loan Panel that they are truly indigent. (Please note the bursaries are only available in the form of loans and the panel next meets in 2015.)

(Many thanks to Richard Murphy, Nick Shaxson, and all the usual suspects who toil endlessly to expose the greedy, gouging, tax dodging ... Steady on; a man needs a few bob in his trousers for a rainy day. And haven't you come to some arrangement with the People's Bank about a cash ISA thingy...Ed)

Looting

Looting, what looting?

Nick Shaxson offers evidence that it was the big boys wot done it, and ran away!

A £14 billion bunce. Now that's what I call 'recreational looting'.

How many watches would that buy down Mere St?

Still Voices

It is difficult in the present turmoil to get a handle on sanity and keep a firm hold for fear of finding something worse. No doubt we will be subjected to the whys and wherefores enunciated by politicians for some time to come or at least until the next dreadful thing.

Did you see Harriet winding Micky the Gov(e) up on Newsnight? There is a partial transcript here with commentary by Nicholas Watt on his Grauniad blog. I often refer to the quality of being able to wind up a quartz watch. She demonstrated it in spades. My, theatrical, take on this exchange was that she pushed his buttons to the point where he verbally lashed out, effectively loosing it. She then sat back and took it on the chin to show what a bore and a bully he is. The picture of someone so far up himself, enunciating very precisely, clearly and in clipped tones the reason why he is glowing with indignation like a Japanese reactor did not inspire confidence. This is a man with his finger on the pulse. Sadly, in a family blog like this, before the watershed, I am not able to disclose where that pulse is.

The excellent Mr Naughton has a very clear perspective on the context of the 'recreational looting' in his blog, here.
He makes a plea for

...a serious attempt to understand what underpins the current crisis.

Otherwise

If we don’t learn from it then we’re screwed.

We are screwed.
Comfort? There is none unless we act. It's going to be slow but let's start now!

Vulture Capitalism ll

I have mentioned Vulture Capitalism before in a slightly different context, namely, ripping the heart out of countries and economies that can barely support life.

I also cogitated, a mite ironical at the time perhaps, that Subprime Warriors, Vulture Capitalists all, had become vegetarian or vegan even!

A further taxonomic development has been advanced by the excellent Mr Murphy in his blog on the Tax Research site concerning the role of tax havens in global recession. Feral capitalism is preached by feral capitalists as they roam across the world with very little restraint.

In the whiff of smoke as London burns there is another deeply offensive smell. I last half choked on it in Spain as we discovered the corpse of a wild horse being stripped of flesh and lights by a large vulture.