Law of Unintended Consequences or Every Cloud has a Silver Lining? Discuss

[Amarillo]

By circulating this I presume it’s your view.

Your presumption is wrong. I posted in the “unintended consequences” thread. There are at least three active Coronavirus threads, and my choice of threads for the “gallows’ humour” was deliberate.

 

[ArunAlec]

Your presumption is wrong. I posted in the “unintended consequences” thread. There are at least three active Coronavirus threads, and my choice of threads for the “gallows’ humour” was deliberate.

I think we all need to brace ourselves for the new Spitting Image!

 

[willwander]

It is 'gallows humor'... until you reach the RED tag line, then it's just political point scoring.

 

[T6 CFO]

Your presumption is wrong. I posted in the “unintended consequences” thread. There are at least three active Coronavirus threads, and my choice of threads for the “gallows’ humour” was deliberate.

Which is why I asked as you posted without comment.

I have no problems with gallows humour or even the actual content depending on its context. Humour is fine but politically motivated posts spreading disinformation are not.

Had you agreed with the post we would then have moved to discussing its dangers, as you don’t there is no need.





Mike

 

[pjm-84]

I have to work longer. Pension down 33k

 

[T6 CFO]

I have to work longer. Pension down 33k

Best not to look. Markets above all dislike uncertainty. Once it’s sorted they will recover. In the meantime you’ll be adding to your pension buying at a lower rate.
That’s the theory anyway. Fingers crossed.


Mike

 

[pjm-84]

I spent some of my float last week.

I only have 2.5k left to play with

 

[willwander]

Will recover...eventually.
If you bought the dow the day before the crash of 2008... you'd still be up 80% today.

 

[Dave Wickham]

Yep, pensions tumbling and prices low, be brave and buy now. When markets recover (and they will) you'll be quids in...

 

[Amarillo]

I have a lot of mortgage debt so not hit by the recent falls. My pension is defined benefit.

However I bung away a bit each month for the boys into a junior ISA and have seen the growth slip from an average of over 10% per year to a loss of 1.5% per year. Still, we have at least 12 years for it to recover.

 

[pjm-84]

We have a tracker mortgage.

Took it out in 2008 at 0.82% above the base rate.

 

[Amarillo]

We have a tracker mortgage.

Took it out in 2008 at 0.82% above the base rate.

That’s brilliant! We have four mortgages, all fixed rate. One ten years and the others five years.

 

[WelshGas]

Well the Schengen Area seems to have fallen apart.

 

[Amarillo]

Well the Schengen Area seems to have fallen apart.

You sound almost gleeful!

The possibility of pandemic and the closure of national borders was always factored into the Schengen treaty. But I'm struggling to keep up. Last time I looked it was Norway, Czechia, Slovakia and Denmark who have closed their borders, and Austria and Slovenia had closed their border with Italy.

 

[WelshGas]

You sound almost gleeful!

The possibility of pandemic and the closure of national borders was always factored into the Schengen treaty. But I'm struggling to keep up. Last time I looked it was Norway, Czechia, Slovakia and Denmark who have closed their borders, and Austria and Slovenia had closed their border with Italy.

Yours I Believe?



Not gleeful, as you seem to be about drops in interest rates and the fact you have Tracker Mortgages. Who cares a toss.
No Sad that the great European experiment/ideal seems to be imploding so quickly in the face of adversity .
I would have expected more from the EU President and others but they have been oddly quiet as the disaster unfurls. They seem more concerned with Turkey than what's happening within the EU and even there they seem to have left Greece to manage it on its own.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Seems that despite our best efforts to destroy the planet nature fights back and will ultimately reset the balance. We are just subject to a cull at the moment.

If only that were the case.....
Sadly I think we'll succeed in destroying everything in the end.

 

[Amarillo]

Yours I Believe?

View attachment 56192

Not gleeful, as you seem to be about drops in interest rates and the fact you have Tracker Mortgages. Who cares a toss.

Untrue. I have a ten year fixed rate repayment mortgage and three five year fixed rate interest only mortgages. With little savings and a defined benefit pension, the drop in interest rates will barely affect us for good or ill.

No Sad that the great European experiment/ideal seems to be imploding so quickly in the face of adversity .
I would have expected more from the EU President and others but they have been oddly quiet as the disaster unfurls. They seem more concerned with Turkey than what's happening within the EU and even there they seem to have left Greece to manage it on its own.

 

[Velma's Dad]

No Sad that the great European experiment/ideal seems to be imploding so quickly in the face of adversity .
I would have expected more from the EU President and others but they have been oddly quiet as the disaster unfurls. They seem more concerned with Turkey than what's happening within the EU and even there they seem to have left Greece to manage it on its own.

It's ironic, that a lot of people who objected to the EU's increasing political integration and 'top-downness' (not imputing your particular perspective WG, but just saying) are now criticising the lack of centralised/coordinated EU response on the CV outbreak... which admittedly has not been impressive.

 

[WelshGas]

It's ironic, that a lot of people who objected to the EU's increasing political integration and 'top-downness' (not imputing your particular perspective WG, but just saying) are now criticising the lack of centralised/coordinated EU response on the CV outbreak... which admittedly has not been impressive.

Criticising yes, because according to many it was the future for Europe and we were stupid to leave but when the proverbial hits the fan it has failed at the first hurdle and its everyman/country for himself.. No coordinated response, no assistance for the poorer member states, just close the borders. The Brussels hierarchy have failed to provide the Leadership required .

 

[pjm-84]

Drop in date makes

Untrue. I have a ten year fixed rate repayment mortgage and three five year fixed rate interest only mortgages. With little savings and a defined benefit pension, the drop in interest rates will barely affect us for good or ill.

Equates to £78 a month for me. Which to be fair is a little more than I thought.

 

[GrannyJen]

Isn't it a commentary on first world values that we discuss a drop in interest rates and the minimal benefit it has to looking at the global picture and the devastation COVID-19 will have on those who could only ever dream of a home, a mortgage, a world with justice, human rights and above all a universal health care system like our NHS,

For some people sh*t just keeps on happening.

 

[ArunAlec]

If only that were the case.....
Sadly I think we'll succeed in destroying everything in the end.

You might be right but I think that whatever we do, even the destruction of what we consider life, nature will win out. Even if that means starting again at a microbiological level and starting a whole new evolutionary process again. Then once that evolution arrives a humans again they can screw it up!

 

[pjm-84]

Isn't it a commentary on first world values that we discuss a drop in interest rates and the minimal benefit it has to looking at the global picture and the devastation COVID-19 will have on those who could only ever dream of a home, a mortgage, a world with justice, human rights and above all a universal health care system like our NHS,

For some people sh*t just keeps on happening.

That's harsh GJ. I don't give a monkies hoot about £78 a month. As a employer this is going to cost me, maybe 30k, and guess what I don't give a monkies hoot about that either. I need to support my employees to the point where I can no longer provide that financial support. If that means I take up their workload whilst they feel the need to self isolate I have no problem with that.

I don't want to start on the other items because everyone is different. Maybe I'm more fortunate or maybe its as a result of taking responsibility, risk, opportunity and life style choices. Trust me, my upbringing was well under the poverty line in an South London estate in conditions that people would struggle to comprehend now. I could have been that some people.

 

[GrannyJen]

That's harsh GJ. I don't give a monkies hoot about £78 a month. As a employer this is going to cost me, maybe 30k, and guess what I don't give a monkies hoot about that either. I need to support my employees to the point where I can no longer provide that financial support. If that means I take up their workload whilst they feel the need to self isolate I have no problem with that.

I don't want to start on the other items because everyone is different. Maybe I'm more fortunate or maybe its as a result of taking responsibility, risk, opportunity and life style choices. Trust me, my upbringing was well under the poverty line in an South London estate in conditions that people would struggle to comprehend now. I could have been that some people.

You have misinterpreted my comments, I apologise if it has caused you offence.

It was aimed at nowt in particular, a general observation that a tiny lowering of interest rates is seen as a panacea in the first world for all the misery about to explode. I am in the same boat as you in a different way having just seen a Third of my income wiped out so I also am a net beneficiary of the interest rate cut.

 

[pjm-84]

No offense taken GJ so no need to apologize.

Luckily I didn't tell the story of receiving an orange (fruit) and a cartoon book for Christmas one year as a 7 or 8 year old..... opps I've said it now.

(Always got a cartoon book, so the orange was my Christmas present that year)