Brown And The £40 Billion Bail Out (Part One)
The weekend press has been full of yet more promises from the Labour Party as the government looks to support the housing market. Yet again we have unnamed sources drip feeding yet more stories and ideas to the press but very little substance behind them. So what is going on and when will it all happen?
It is now a common opinion amongst financial experts that Gordon Brown has caused more harm than good to the housing market over the last two months. Empty promises have come and gone, vague comments in the press have been contradicted on record and it seems that we are set for a phase of new headlines with very little substance. A supposed £40 billion government bail out of the mortgage market has been mooted as the excitement over a possible freeze on stamp duty dies down. So how can the authorities help?
If the rumours are true it looks as though Gordon Brown is going to go against the principle of a free market and offer up to £40 billion of government funding to the sector to take some of the more risky mortgage agreements off the hands of the banks. It is hoped that the 'guaranteed by the government' stance will allow banks to rebuild the mortgage market while the tax payer takes the risk. But is this fair?
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