Suddenly everyone is a financial expert

Suddenly everyone is a financial expert




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You know when Wimbledon comes around, we all become tennis commentators? The same rule applies for the recession. There suddenly seems to be a lot of people talking very loudly about the economy in very public places, in a very smug tone. 

I’m no fiscal guru but it’s relatively easy to pick out the pretenders when you’re surrounded by finance news all day. Perhaps because I work amongst it, hearing the wannabe Warren Buffetts on the train home actually makes me want to shut my head into the fold up tray in front of me.

 

Therefore, to alleviate my rocketing blood pressure levels and bring this worrying trend to the attention of a wider audience, I will include below the summary of a phone conversation I was unfortunate enough to overhear this week (I’m sure the man in question will not mind my eavesdropping, as he deliberately changed seats to sit opposite me before shouting his views proudly into his phone until I escaped).

 

Economic genius of the third carriage: “Yeah mate, where we went the other night wasn’t exactly for the middle classes. Drinks were £25 each. Yep. TWENTY FIVE QUID. I know, mad, but I can afford it now innit, I just bought a house – cash.”

 

If I may interject – this is doubtful, especially as he was using an Aldi carrier bag as a briefcase. In fact, I cannot even verify if there was anyone on the end of the line. If he was talking to someone, it must have been the most patient person on the entire planet – this man could very well have been unhinged. Let’s get back to his insights:

 

“That’s right. CASH. I ain’t got no mortgage or nothing, I don’t need one, mate. Banks don’t got nothing on me. Why get a mortgage? You end up paying double, innit? That’s why all them people are getting repossessed. Banks want you to get in debt, they want to repossess you. I feel bad for all these middle class people with mortgages. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. Poor people have to pay the banks like eighty per cent interest. Yeah mate, mad, that’s the credit crunch for you.”

 

There you have it folk, that’s the credit crunch for you.

 

Am I alone in always attracting the Pestons of the late night Overground? Let me know any dubious economic views you’ve been subjected to recently and let’s raise awareness of this maddening craze.

 

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