The Greed Never Ends

There I was, enjoying the first meal of the day and positively looking forward to a spell in the garden, when suddenly, the news reader announced that British Gas had made profits this past year amounting to over five hundred percent. Leaping lizards, I nearly choked on the piece of fruit I was eating. Now don't get me wrong, but even I, as dumb a human as I am, realize that companies are entitled to make a "decent" profit at the end of the day. However, I feel that I must wholeheartedly draw the line, when British Gas sits back and takes it's customers for complete fools.

I'm not sure of the views shared by you people out there, but I've always thought that the energy watchdog Ofgem, a government body, was put into place to make sure that we all benefit from being charged fairly for the amount we spend on our energy consumption, rather than to idly sit by on their backsides and watch us all get well and truly ripped off every year.

It doesn't seem to matter that British Gas and all the others have been paying less for the wholesale price of both gas and electricity, because they quite obviously don't want us to reap the same rewards, something I've now come to expect from an industry where there is no true competition between them all. The one thing they do have in common with each other, it's their never-ending and all encompassing greed.

Another item of news that has been thrust at us over the breakfast table lately, it's the so-called credit crunch. Now, I don't know about you, but this time around, it's not general public's attitude to spending that has brought this crunch down on us, but rather the incredible greed, once again, of those who sought to profit at the expense of others.

Basically, and as I spoke of recently, this crunch is being led by the collapse in the American sub prime housing market, the one where greedy bankers and financiers sought to sell off mortgages at a quick easy profit. Yes, it's true to say that it hasn't quite hit us yet, but then, while our banks are able to write off their own enormous debts, no doubt because of their high profits margins in the past, then this crunch will filter through more slowly than when confronted by an almighty and resounding crash in the market. But don't forget, what the banks pay for now, we pay for it later on. Unfortunately, some of us will be affected a whole lot more than others, especially if you are lumbered with a hefty mortgage that you know you have no chance of paying. These people have my sympathy, but as Froggy would say, you really should look before you leap.

It's nice to see that the month of February has been relatively kind to us, and now that March is just around the corner, spring isn't that far away either. If the weather doesn't turn cold at night, then we could see the return of Froggy before long. Hooray!!! :D


Take care....

Bob (Still standing in for our friend, Froggy)