Now we are facing our moment of truth - Brown

[TomClash]

Source: The Guardian

Now we are facing our moment of truth - Brown

PM to demand European bank bail-out

'Stakes could not be higher for jobs'
Gaby Hinsliff in London and Heather Stewart in Washington The Observer, Sunday October 12 2008

Gordon Brown will try to broker a Europe-wide bail-out of banks today modelled on Britain's £500bn intervention, warning that the 'stakes could not be higher' for jobs, mortgages and the future of the economy.

The Prime Minister told The Observer that within days he would reveal how the bail-out would protect livelihoods in the UK by forcing the banks that accept government help to make money available to businesses and homeowners. One option is understood to be for the government to take seats on bank boards in return for taxpayers' cash.

Brown said that the next few days would prove critical as the world tried to drag itself back from the financial brink after Friday's stock market panic wiped £2.7 trillion off global share values.

'The decisions that we take now will not just affect what happens in the next week or two but what happens in the next year or two,' said Brown, who flies to Paris for a meeting of eurozone ministers today. He will brief leaders from EU countries within the eurozone, from which Britain is usually excluded, on how his government's three-pronged strategy to buy stakes in banks, inject cash and kick-start lending could be copied across Europe in an unprecedented part-nationalisation of large parts of the global banking system.

'I will say to people tomorrow that the stakes could not be higher,' he said yesterday. 'This is a moment of truth for the European economies, facing up to the challenges that are ahead.'

Asked why, if his plan was working, the markets had crashed so spectacularly last week, the Prime Minister insisted that the British package was 'the right one', but added: 'Obviously it is going to work best if other countries are in a position to follow.'

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/12/gordonbrown-economy

[JustAnotherGen]

1. You know

Between Brown, Sarkozy, and Merkel - I'm glad that some leader, somewhere is saying ANYTHING to make me feel better about this mess. I hope this comes across right . . .

George Bush has never been exactly a 'beacon of hope'. And let's face it - at a G7 or G8 summit - we ALL know our President is NOT the smartest guy in the room.

Knowing that the Smart People are making moves makes me feel a lot better. It's the best I've got until Barack and Joe step into the WH next January. It's sort of how I felt when Chirac stood up for truth and those of us in America that NEVER believed the WMD Lie. Another instance of some leader, somewhere said something to alleviate the stress and agita.

[TomClash]

2. They are all groping in the dark

But a lot of people are working on it - finally.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Amen to that!

[AndyTiedye]

6. Every Time BUSH Talks About the Economy The Market Tanks

How does Brown do?

[Tansy_Gold]

4. "Jobs, mortgages, the economy"

In that order.

But then, Europe has long had a greater focus on labor as a part of the economy than the U.S. has.

[fasttense]

5. This is a ridiculous plan.

They are doing nothing but throwing more money at rich people.

The meat of the story is in the last paragraphs.

"Senior Tories called for action to save jobs by limiting new employment rights and reducing red tape, in a shift away from David Cameron's support for measures such as more flexible working.

Mark Prisk, the shadow business minister, attacked the government's decision to grant temporary and agency workers similar rights to permanent staff after 12 weeks in a job, arguing that this could be the last straw. 'This is just the wrong moment to start making things more complex and expensive. There are people out there now who if you start ratcheting up the costs of employment might just tip over the edge and start pushing more people into joblessness,' he said.

Chris Grayling, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said that the priority now was to save jobs: 'The fundamentals for business will be making ends meet and paying salary bills. The presumption over the next couple of years should be AGAINST NEW REGULATION and IN FAVOUR OF DEREGULATION where we can.'"

The "free" market idiots or neoliberals (as they are called in Europe) see this banking crisis as an opportunity to destroy worker's rights. I can just hear these idiots who can't see beyond their own greed say, "Workers need to give up their rights in order to speed the recovery of the economy". Just more deregulation.

"Free" market idiots only have 3 solutions to any economic problem. 1. Tax breaks for the rich 2. Privatization (which is what this scheme of Brown's is. Privatization of the banks debt.) 3. Deregulation.

These three things are what caused this economic crisis. Doing more of the same is not going to help.

They need to shore up jobs, create a works program, rebuild the middle class. Until they start helping the middle class and Not the idle rich, we will continue to spiral into economic depression.