Beer bag © fintag

Today's shorts:
A flat tax here, a CGT there, a working prisoner (cityam)
Obama says some words (independent)
China up 12% (bbc)
Palm trees grow after hedgie takes a nibble (nytimes)


Today's longs:
Oz Hedgie rides the interest rate wave (hedgeweek)
Bailed out bankers make huge profits (reuters)
100% GDP debt - you heard about it here first (finfacts)
DB caught in rude words scandal (hitc)
The next credit crash will be even bigger (financialarmegeddon)

News comments:
Remember when both debt and tax were bad? Remember when surplus and no tax were what we all strived for? It seems like a long time ago if ever at all we wanted to be solvent. As wikipedia is rewritten and the history books burned, I realize the error of my ways. I am happier now; happy to help my government pay its debt after bailing out those needy bankers and spending on all that regulation and red tape that make life so much fun.

I am so grateful interest rates are low and public sector spending is kept at above inflation levels. But I want more. I want more quantitative easing, more bad debts hidden, more state intervention and the loss of liberty and freedom.

Why wasn't my careers teacher more forceful? Why did she fail to push me into the civil service? It it the greatest regret I have. I crave for 9 to 5, lots of sickies and a fat pension. Life as an agent of the state is so much more fulfilling than being a nasty entrepreneur who creates value, tax revenue and jobs. The private sector is full of greedy depraved people who should be in jail for crimes against fairness.

You see I have been an unfair person. I need to be fairer. I need to give more of my money to civil servants who are better at spending than me. Whereas I spend my money on loose women and expensive foreign cars, the civil servants spend it on penalising prostitutes and those who drive expensive foreign cars.

Like a flagellating pope I need to punish myself. Question is how do I do that?