Editor's Blog Feb 13th 2012

Written on 13 February 2012.

Running Scared

Consider a man or a woman, working a normal job with average wage, paying their bills, mortgage, credit card and car or bike loan. Pretty average scenario for a pretty average person.

Consider, that man or woman walking into a bank and asking for a further loan, lets say for home improvements.

The Loans manager would look at the financial history, make some calculations and state that the finance package is not approved, due to the fact that there is the risk that the person asking for the funding would be put under financial duress and may not be able to pay back the bank.

Now consider a country, without giving much away, their soldiers wear skirts and have pompoms on their shoes. The country is broke and has defaulted on several loans already, the people have been asked to tighten their belts even more, in order to qualify for even more bail out money.

And yet this country is given more loans to prop up what is a broken economy.

I have always been told only borrow what you can pay back comfortably, and at personal level, I have been able to stick to that adage and have slept comfortably in the knowledge that it will be paid.

I now often lay awake not thinking of my finances, but the finances of countries, my own included; I fear that all this unchecked borrowing is a precursor for dark days ahead.

History has shown us, in most times of economic unrest, behind the scenes the gears of war are quietly greased.

Ed.