Debt countdown © fintag

News comments:
As reported by the EU statistics office, the UK is in third place.

Of course this is old news although the EUcrats have insisted they use a methodology that makes comparison fairer. A level playing field. And all that. Not that the governments involved are known for telling the truth as we have witnessed over the last few years where saying "everything is fine and we don't need to be bailed out" really means "we are fckued and want some cheap facility to keep us get elected for another 4 years".

So there is that IMF chart again represented in Excel and so looking rather shabby.

The UK is in a mess but has history and tradition and yes its been there before (1981, the year of the last Royal Wedding ...and yes my ticket has arrived and I have no view so decided to hand to the Blairs who look a little glum at not being invited).

But you Yankees out there need not feel smug for I have been reading lots of books about the 1920s and 1930s and there are incredible parallels between the end of the British Empire and the end of USA world dominance. It is all so clear why gold is the new T Bill.

(telegraph)

Today's shorts:
HSBC no longer the world's bank as it leaves Russia (for obvious reasons) (reuters)

Today's longs:
US starts the long recovery and says googbye to Jap Crap cars (bloomberg)

Gossip:
Sales of Royal Wedding tat to pay off UK debt.