More Green Shoots

Gordon's little Darling has given the banks another jolly good talking-to, so that taxpayers can all sleep easy in their beds knowing that the banks won't do anything naughty with the recent redistribution of wealth. Gordon's little Darling and the sub-prime minister, Lord Mandelbrot the Infinitely Recurring, have had "robust" discussions with various oiled cogwheels and greased pigs amid concerns that, when lending to businesses, banks should not charge more than, in good conscience, they absolutely feel they can get away with. "I am concerned to make sure that banks do not charge any more than is absolutely necessary," said Gordon's little Darling. "The banks will say that because interest rates have come down, people are paying less now. I think that the advantage of low interest rates has to be passed on. Of course there are arrangement fees that need to be paid and so on, but I am concerned to make sure that banks do not charge any more than is absolutely necessary."

It seems that Gordon's little Darling is concerned to make sure that banks do not charge any more than absolutely necessary. On the other hand, it seems that if banks are charging more than absolutely necessary, Gordon's little Darling would not dream of interfering. "Really only banks can make that decision," he said. What the Government can do is "enter into agreements, which we have"; which is something, anyway; and having entered into agreements the Government can ensure that "where there is a commitment to make money available for mortgages or to make money available for businesses, the money is actually there", which sounds like a jolly good idea. Having ensured that the money being spent is actually there to be spent, the Government can ensure, by having a bit of a chat with the bankers once in a while, that loans are "reasonably priced and there is the availability of funds" and that "the agreements [the bankers] entered into are honoured"; which also sounds jolly sensible. I wonder why nobody thought of all this before.

Unfortunately, according to the chief executive of the British Bankers' Association, the recession which the bankers have helped to cause means that "there will be businesses out there which haven't got a lot of business left"; which means that the bankers who helped to get the businesses into trouble are now, in the flush of their new-found sense of responsibility, virtuously disinclined to help them get out. In addition, "the cost of money has gone up", though evidently not because bankers are charging more for it. Nevertheless, Gordon's little Darling is concerned to make sure that banks do not charge any more than absolutely necessary, and is doubtless prepared to give bankers a good, robust talking-to whenever they have nothing better to do than listen to him.