Trades unions, Bastions of Responsibility

Yesterday, reports Christopher Hope of the Torygraph, Derek Simpson of Unite said,

The measures announced today must be bound to undertakings by the banks of no job losses, no repossessions and an end to the bonus culture.

No repossessions, Derek? None? And lending at 2007 levels? Have we gone completely bonkers?

At the Windy-pendant today, you can read Dominic Lawson on what is rapidly sounding like a very plausible claim, It all went wrong when we left the gold standard, and Mary Dejevsky on a similar topic, Don't blame Thatcher – she was all for sound money.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find arguments against the proposition that having a system of currency which is known as fiat, where the government basically conjures up new money, and where fractional-reserve requirements allow the banking system effectively to do the same, is far too dangerous a basis on which to run our economy. While an under-grad, I had a friend who bemoaned the fact that we weren't on the gold standard and thought things had gone downhill since we abandoned it. Frankly, I'm beginning to understand his reasoning.