There may be trouble ahead...

There may be trouble ahead...

Too many people are in debt. We recently had Northern Rock closing its doors on its customers, failing to honour "we promise to pay the bearer on demand" as is printed on our banknotes, because the Bank of England refused to bail it out with a loan. Now the world's largest bank, Citigroup, is in trouble and is holding an emergency meeting this weekend. Citigroup's chief executive, Charles Prince, may have his head on the chopping block. It is rumoured that Barclay's bank is also in trouble after approaching the Bank of England for an emergency loan. Is the capitalist system about to come crashing down? Are we heading for another Wall Street Crash?

I don't normally blog on financial matters. However, I must admit that I have been feeling the pinch of late. Debts up to my eyeballs, bank charges for going overdrawn. But there is definitely something going wrong. What are banks doing with the money that they are supposed to be looking after for customers? When banks like Northern Rock have to borrow £23 billion from the Bank of England, and the government has to step in to bail them out the warning signs do not look good.

Then there is the question of why did Gordon Brown appoint Alistair Darling to the post of Chancellor if he does not have faith in him in a crisis like this? Apparently, Gordon Brown has appointed Baroness Vadera, the International Development Minister, to oversee the job is done to Gordon Brown's liking. Does this mean that we will soon see a cabinet reshuffle?

UPDATE: Citigroup's Prince to resign.