80bn for Joe Public. 150bn for the banks. A welfare state for who again?

The Welfare State costs £80bn against a bank bailout that has cost so far £150bn.

How much for who is that? “That’s £100 billion for Northern Rock plus another £50 billion in collateral for a grand total of £150 billion of taxpayer’s money bailing out the banks. Compare that to the annual welfare bill of around £80 billion and there will be many that think that it’s not “Well Fair” at all.”

And the real stink in the Big Bailout? “The banks are not lending to each other because they don’t know how much bad debt each holds and what some of these fancy derivatives are worth. But the Bank of England seems happy to lend against these same exotic financial instruments. It’s a bit like someone going into a pawnbroker with a sealed box and asking to borrow money against it.”

You can read the full article in the Daily Reckoning.