Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Bollard Book

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  • Andre,

    On August 30th in this forum I asked:
    How many MP's have something at stake here financially through the huge investments in SCF from Pyne Gould Corporation, George Kerr etc?

    Damn! I should have referred to government-appointed bureaucrats having conflicts of interest instead!

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10675165

    Who would have guessed it...

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Also in Mary Poppins. Young Michael Banks wants to use his shiny coin to feed the birds (tuppence a bag) rather than make his first deposit in his father's bank, and the fuss he causes ...

    Ohhh ... that's spooky. Watch Media7 tomorrow night.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Jolisa,

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Thanks Jolisa, hadn't seen that in years.
    Dick Van Dyke's dotard disguise is a triumph, only the legs (and the end credits) give him away.

    The run-on-the-bank panic sequence is pure Disney, and doesn't appear in Pamela Travers's stories. According to Valerie Lawson's biography of Travers, Mr Banks seems to be an idealised version of her own rather dodgy banker father. Curiously enough it was the 1891 collapse of the Bank of Queensland, prompted by the Bank of England calling in its loans, that left her family in reduced circumstances.

    While she was very much involved with the Disney movie at the scriptwriting stage, and wasn't shy about objecting to what she didn't like, the banking sequences seem to have met with her approval.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Kitty fiddlers... it all comes out in the wash
    and then we have The Istituto per le Opere Religiose a.k.a. The Vatican Bank (not to be confused with a PayPal Bull) not only is their paedophilia dirty linen being aired but they are apparently laundering their money as well...
    ...shades of the Banco Ambrosiano imbroglio in the '80s - when bridging finance meant finding BA's chairman Roberto "God's Banker" Calvi hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London, allegedly murdered by the mob...


    Actuaries, and other quiet retiring types...
    ...Meanwhile they continue fiddling with pension funds in America - there is something ill in Illinois...

    And because the calculations are esoteric, it is hard for anyone except a seasoned actuary to see what is going on.

    The Buck stops here...?

    Investors and traders dumped the dollar and sent gold to yet another record high Tuesday ($US1,289.40), taking their cues from the Federal Reserve’s apparent readiness to drive interest rates down further and inflation up.
    The markets’ verdict was clear: They believe Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is willing to debase the dollar to avoid the risk of the economy falling into deflation.

    read LA Times article here

    so look for a run on Gold and Silver, but people will have to watch out for Fractional Selling Schemes and serious scams like the the gold plated Tungsten ingots that have materialised - another article here and a YouTube clip here also...
    time to invest in something like comics then?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    Another bit of currency trivia.

    When all the coins got changed 5 or so years ago, what percentage of coins in circulation got handed/ cashed in?

    All I needed to do was ask the Reserve Bank. Turns out over $80m of old coins are still out and about.

    5c coin $22.6m 70% of all 5c coins ever issued have not been returned
    10c coin $15.3m 60%
    20c coin $17.0m 50%
    50c coin $13.1m 40%

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Sylvie Zlami,

    so look for a run on Gold and Silver

    I suspect you're right on the money ... bar ETF calamities.
    Mind you, a run on delivery might well fuel demand for the real McCoy.

    Oh well, speculation.

    Had read about the tungsten scam some time ago - thanks for the YouTube link.

    auckland • Since Dec 2007 • 31 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    In 1880s New York, a fraudster had a lead ingot cast and gold plated, with a slug of real gold in the base. He set up a fake assay office where the mug could be taken and given a clean report on the gold. If neccesary, he would scoop a piece of the gold slightly out and allow the mug to get it tested by a real assayer.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • LegBreak,

    @Phil Lyth

    I read somewhere that 70% of coins overall never returned.

    That's a lot of couches up and down NZ.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1162 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi,

    In 1880s New York, a fraudster had a lead ingot cast and gold plated, with a slug of real gold in the base. He set up a fake assay office where the mug could be taken and given a clean report on the gold. If neccesary, he would scoop a piece of the gold slightly out and allow the mug to get it tested by a real assayer.

    Yep, that's similar to the origin of the word goldbricking, referring to defrauding someone for personal gain. Interestingly enough, "goldbricking" now refers to employees of a company using "work internet access for personal reasons while maintaining the appearance of working." Heh.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    They could have challenged the suppression order (as has happened in various cases with notable non-political defendants). I've seen no sign of this.

    Fair call.

    Not really, Russell. In 2005 Garrett was a nobody lawyer who might've been familiar to the membership of the iSST but certainly wasn't a national figure. He didn't come to any real notoriety until much closer to his appointment on Act's list, which Wikipedia says was two months out from the '08 election.
    By that point, the name suppression was thoroughly done-and-dusted. No judge would overturn it just because the recipient of the court's largesse was actually an ethically-challenged hypocrite on the verge of getting a say in such largesse being available in the future. That's not how it works. The only reason the order got overturned now was because Garrett asked the court to reverse itself. Had Garrett chosen to make an issue of the order being breached, as would've been his right, I doubt even the Supreme Court would've allowed for the order to be revoked so far post granting.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Bernard Hickey,

    Here's what Alex Tarrant reported on interest.co.nz in March 2009 about a run on big notes
    http://www.interest.co.nz/news/hoarding-nz50-and-nz100-notes-seen-septoct-crisis-says-rbnz
    cheers
    Bernard

    Since May 2008 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Passport fraud is unusual.

    Crime by a lawyer is unusual.

    Discharge without conviction for a crime which potentially attracts a long jail term is unusual.

    The NZ media reports the most amazing trivia when it suits their narrative.

    Based on that, it's odd that the Garrett case raised not even a ripple.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    Rich, assuming that a reporter was even present in the courtroom where the case was resolved, you may be right. But if it's a nobody, even if it's a nobody lawyer, is the reporter's publisher going to be prepared to spring for the legal time to appeal the suppression?

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Here's what Alex Tarrant reported on interest.co.nz in March 2009 about a run on big notes

    Ah, thanks. The Reserve Bank obviously didn't mind mentioning it after the run was over.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    I understand we are going to hearing/reading more economic reporting from Alex Tarrant in Wellington soon. Might be a good candidate for one of your panels, Russell. He's smart, networked and personable (and young).

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

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