I agree that the comparison, for this or for anything else, is not entirely appropriate because Sweden is a much smaller country and of course it's traditions differ from ours in many ways and its population is much more homogeneous. But the approach that they used might still be worth considering here, if we astutely select, say, the ten biggest banks, or whatever number that the numbers crunchers say will "save" our financial system if they are fixed, and let the other fail, merge, or whatever.

logic wrote: "dreamgarden, great article....brings a whole new meaning to "what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive".... And there you have it in a nutshell. However, I can see why it is more comforting for all too many to simply blame the lowly homebuyer....as one can then continue to remain in denial that of the fact that in essence, our entire finance system is one HUGE scam. Thanks. The more I read about the subprime mess, the more I realize what a "shell game" the bigger interests are playing with everyone's money. Even UK chancellor Alistair Darling has joined growing calls for a probe into the role that credit agencies have played in the world financial crisis. Darling censures rating agencies news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/6995699.stm Its too bad the U.S. didn't follow Canada's example for insuring mortgages. "All high-ratio mortgages in Canada Ñ those with less than 20 per cent down Ñ must be secured by mortgage insurance, through, for example, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. In addition, Canadian financial institutions do not finance more than 100 per cent of a home's purchase price, and that value must be verified with a separate appraisal." marys1000 wrote: "Is there going to be a run on banks? Are banks going to fail? All my mother's money is in one bank." If you have all of your money in ONE bank, that could be a problem. I don't know if there is going to be a run on banks in the U.S. or not, but DH and I are NOT waiting to find out. We have already moved some of our investments into T-bills and CD's. The last time we talked to our banker, he told us we didn't have any sub-prime investments and tried to convince us to keep everything in the market. When I asked him to tell us which part of our portfolio was FDIC insured (or if he would be willing to support us if the market drops), he was silent. Never suggested T-bills or CD's either. I guess he is only interested in our "welfare" as long as he (and his employer) stand to gain. Now I understand why the Russians stuffed money under their mattresses after their banks failed so many times. Time-The Last Sacrifice- Dec. 22, 1947 The Soviets had spiraled into economic trouble similar in some ways to capitalist inflationary difficulties. The ruble, officially valued at 20 U.S. cents, was worth no more than three in actual buying power. Illegal speculation by bureaucrats, collective-farm bosses, store and factory managers and others had become a lively menace to state planning. Peasants, and some city dwellers, had also accumulated hoards of rubles largely because too few of the things they needed, or wanted to buy, were available. Never knowing when deposits might be frozen, they distrusted banks, kept their hoarded money at home. Rationing controls could not be lifted until this money was destroyed, and its destruction was Zhdanov's principal aim.

Keith Waterhouse went only a few months ago and now Sillitoe. Sad. He was amazing - to break out and become a writer from a background like that! And, as Vee says, he wasn't a Grammar school boy. The handle 'Angry Young Men', however, is a strange one. Osborne's Jimmy Porter was the original, of course, and he certainly was very angry - mostly for little reason, to my mind. And I suppose Arthur Seaton was quite angry. But Barstow's Vic Brown from 'A Kind of Loving' wasn't; nor was Waterhouse's Billy Liar; nor Joe Lampton from Braine's 'Room at the Top' (I can't remember about David Storey's 'This Sporting Life' ). Mostly they were, though, working class and of their time: the rebellion and breaking-out of the young in post-war Britai which was restrictive and constrictive in most ways.

Thank you, all my friends, for your kind thoughts and wishes. Yes, Judy, both being writers did bring us closer together. We actually collaborated on a 4-part TV script; and I dramatised several of his novels for BBC radio (A Raging Calm, Joby, A Kind of Loving). I'm going to do more of them. Being writers, we each understood the process that the other was going through - 'Don't talk, I'm working in my head' was frequently heard, and neither of us would disturb the other. Result was, we spent our days separate and in companionable silence but came together for an early-evening drink in the pub, supper and a chat or catching up on TV. In recent years, when he got older, Stan used to spend afternoons listening to his beloved classical music, the other side of the house, while I was working. Diana