Force of Nature

The wind brought down a number of trees in the London area yesterday including aged Limes suffering from something called ganaderma disease. We think we live in a world we control and so it always comes as something of a shock when we come face to face with the forces of nature. We are lucky in this country where the forces of nature are rarely extreme and when they are that they do not last for any length of time. Some people might find this boring but our weather suits our temperament and enables us to take a lot of things in our stride. It is perhaps why there have been no demonstrations against the bank bail outs, bonus payments and the relationships that have been built up between government and the big corporations, including the banks. The Lloyds takeover of HBOS has though aroused the American shareholders of Lloyds to take action in the USA against Lloyds and both its former chairman and chief executive for having failed to disclose to the shareholders that HBOS had been propped up by billions in loans from the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve. Americans live in a land where the force of nature can often be seen in all its might and awe and so to bring such an action is natural to them but it is good to learn that Lloyds UK shareholders are hoping to bring a similar action here. And so they should for what can only be said to have been a disastrous deal. Did Sir Victor Blank agree to buy HBOS because as was rumoured he was offered a peerage if he pushed the purchase through? Unlikely but it will be interesting to see whether the question is asked during the trial. Jesse Norman MP has written a fascinating polemic The Case for Real Capitalism which argues that what happened to both Goldman Sacks and Lloyds HBOS was as a result of cosy, as opposed to real, capitalism. Such polemic is well worth reading, that is why I have linked to it.