Joining up the news – or where did the money go?

We are told that the banks (in Ireland and elsewhere) lent money to speculators to enable them to

buy land at inflated prices. When prices dipped, the speculators went bust, the banks

had to be helped by the taxpayer, and took on board the remaining assets of the

speculators.

However, what was not much reported was the enormous sums of

money received by the sellers of land in the boom that preceded the bust. We now read that Private Equity Funds are

sitting on £985bn uninvested moneys. Next we read that the banks have a distressed

property auction and many many people turn up to buy parcels of land at knock

down prices, no doubt ready to sell again when speculation starts again.

If we consider that there is a sort of fence between the “haves” and the “have nots”

then it seems that at each recession a huge block of money jumps from the “have nots”

to the “haves”.