Reply: I agree there needs to be an enquiry into why the government and Bank allowed liquidity to dry up so dramatically in the London market this summer.

Reply: No I don’t. I see it as a necessary last lurch after the authorities have got so much wrong in trying to run money policy. They created the sloppy credit conditions a few years ago. They then overtightened this summer causing the stresses we now see. I don’t think the current problem is reckless borrowing - the current problem is a shortage of money and credit. Overborrowing is last year’s hangover. Today financial instititutions around the world are more likely to be teetotal and occasionally cannot even find all the water they want without help.

In his recent interview with the Telegraph (17/09/2007) Alan Greenspan noted that “Britain must overhaul its flagging education system or risk being left behind by other vibrant economies around the world”.

Secondry schools in Wokingham Borough are all comprehensive. The nearest grammar schools are in Reading Borough. Wokingham schools have fairly decent gcse/a level results. But the Ofsted reports for some schools are rated “Satisfactory” and mention a “disruptive minority”. And as you noted in your post on giving a talk on Economics at a public school, pupils at comprehensives don’t seem to have the same self-knowledge, drive and ambition as public school pupils.

What concerns me is a “cheerful mediocrity” where brighter pupils are not stretched and made aware of the opportunities available to them. Will a “grammar stream” in comprehensives rectify this and enable our pupils to compete internationally. Or possibly selection at 13 based on exam, interview and pupil inclination. (Many people feel that 11 is too early which maybe accounts for the unpopularity of the 11+).

Also, maybe too many schools have chosen “Maths and Computing” as a speciality. (Does Computing mean mucking around with Microsoft Powerpoint)? Why not some true diversity with specialities in music, mandarin, hard science and technology, food arts and other crafts.

Reply: I agree we need to lift the performance of state schools, and make things more challenging for the able pupils. yes, I think grammar streams and sets would help, as would different types of school. I do not think maths and comuting is a soft option.

I’m a little bit suspicious of the whole affair. Has the government used the shareholders of a bank as sacrificial lambs in an attempt to keep a lid on rampaging house prices? There has been numerous interest rate rises and still no significant slowing and the government’s got form for paying scant regard to shareholder’s rights with Railtrack. By leaving house prices out of the inflation figures, that determine interest rates, have they inadvertantly neutered the effectiveness of rates rises in quelling house price inflation?

A guarantee on all savings seems somewhat rash and a dangerous precedent setter. If it transpires the Directors have been not entirely candid, with regards to the bank’s solvency, I could well imagine them reneging on this seemingly generous pledge. There would also need to be some clear statement on time-frame for me to have any trust in it. If we’re going into a period of high inflation and it takes years for the payouts to be made the savings eventually paid out will be worth substantially less in real terms.

Reply: The Regulators assure us the bank is solvent and are clearly satsified with the Directors conduct. There is no stated time for the guarantee. I don’t think we are going into a period of high inflation.