Just back from Malta for a brief trip, and was particularly taken with the fact that the country appears to be sponsored by HSBC. Not just the airport, a hotel or a football stadium, but the whole country. Where did this impression come from? Well, from the moment of arrival when you are welcomed by…
I don't know if you keep up with the Darwin Awards. These are presented to the person(s) who provide the most inventive or silliest way of removing themselves from the human gene pool. And this year's winner is … a bank robber. Or rather two of them. Dinant (Belgium), September 26th 2009. Two bankrobbers die…
I’m sitting in the house. It’s snowing. Look. This is big news. We don't get snow in Britain anymore. Global warming saw to that. So when it's snowing, it's major news headlines. Non-stop BBC reports saying: "it's snowing". And so it's snowing, and Britain has stopped. Literally. Everything has closed down. We couldn't even get…
It's Monday, January 4th 2010. It's the first day back at work for most people in England (Scotland's still on holidaze), and so you would imagine after everything has shut down for almost a fortnight that it might be busy. So you're a bank branch manager. It's lunchtime on Monday, January 4th. The first day…
With the announcement that the cheque is ending its existence in 2018, I wonder whether Gordon Brown inspired this decision. This is because one of his cheques bounced way back in 1972, during his student days. It was sold on eBay for £3,100 yesterday (double click to enlarge). That's 1,000 times more…
After reviewing how my five predictions for 2009 did, I was fascinated to get a note from Business Week with the ten worst predictions made for the year. Mine did not make the list, but my good friend Stephen Timewell from the Banker is on there: "In short, under the robust leadership of Sheikh Mohammed,…
Come on, banks have been bailed out. Car manufacturers and all sorts of others have been bailed out. Now Santa needs help. Come on, have a heart. Give generously … I think Santa summed it up well when he said: "I personally would feel awkward asking for $26 billion. That would be ridiculous. But $25…
After the Fat Cat Cash Back internet game comes Bailout Wars, the iPhone App. Here's a brief review: The basic idea is you're defending the white house from five different types of bankers all intent on stuffing their pockets full of the bailout money which is somehow bursting out of the windows of the White…
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