UK Borrowing
At GBP 2.58 trillion the UK’s borrowing represents 99% of UK GDP. It seems somewhat perverse therefore for newspapers to speculate about pre election tax cut potential. Apart from crushing inflation and increasing productivity, the reduction of the colossal amount of UK Government debt is now assuming the top priority for a fiscally responsible government.
GBP/USD 1.2730.
China
With consumer spending, factory output and investment all sharply falling China is experiencing the opposite of the Western economies. That Chinese deflation is being talked about as the final nail in the coffin of Western inflation. That is until the negative effect of the world’s second biggest economy moving into recession on the global economy is factored in. At which point expect the R word to resurface.
USD/CNY 7.2930.
Killer Queen
Astonishing to think that on this day in 2004, Queen fronted by Freddie Mercury became the first Western pop group to be approved by the Iranian regime. Astonishing given the fact that Western music was strictly prohibited in Iran and even more so given the well known proclivities of part Iranian ancestry Freddie Mercury. Then there are the lyrics:
She keeps her Moët et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
“Let them eat cake, ” she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Khrushchev and Kennedy
At anytime an invitation
You can’t decline
Caviar and cigarettes
Well versed in etiquette
Extraordinarily nice
She’s a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime
Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?
To avoid complications
She never kept the same address
In conversation
She spoke just like a baroness
Met a man from China
Went down to Geisha Minor
Then again incidentally
If you’re that way inclined
Perfume came naturally from Paris (naturally)
For cars she couldn’t care less
Fastidious and precise
She’s a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime
Drop of a hat she’s as willing as
Playful as a pussy cat
Then momentarily out of action
Temporarily out of gas
To absolutely drive you wild, wild
She’s out to get you
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
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