UK Regulators tell Co Op Bank investors they come second to " stability " ....... Spain levies consumption tax on sunlight - everyone act surprised that Spain is an Idiotcracy......DSK faces trial ( again ) for pimping - when do the banksters who have "pimped " taxpayers and investors go on trial for same ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10205973/Regulators-tell-Co-op-savers-that-they-come-second-to-stability.html

By Szu Ping Chan

11:54PM BST 26 Jul 2013

44 Comments

In a letter to Mark Taber, who represents small bondholders, Andrew Bailey, head of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), said that while he sympathised with investors, a “successful economy” was the PRA’s priority.

"Tthe PRA has a general statutory objective to promote the safety and soundness of the firms we supervise, focusing on the adverse effects that they can have on the UK financial system,’ said Mr Bailey, according to a letter seen by the Mail.

"This is our primary consideration in the judgments that we make in the course of our supervision of firms. A stable financial system is necessary for a healthy and successful economy," he added.

Mr Bailey also rebuffed calls from Mr Taber for a review of the restructuring plan.

"The PRA has always been clear that the way in which that extra capital was to be raised was a matter for the Cooperative Bank itself," he said.

The Co-op launched a raid on bondholders to help raise £1.5bn to plug a black hole in its books. The ‘bail-in’ of approximately 15,000 junior bondholders all but wiped out their investments.

Mr Bailey's remarks were in response to a sternly worded open letter written by Mr Taber this month, in which he accused the watchdog of taking “punitive and disproportionate” actions towards the bank.

Mr Taber said the PRA’s actions had caused an “unavoidable standoff "which could result in “unnecessary nationalisation” of the bank.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/07/spain-levies-consumption-tax-on-sunlight.html

Friday, July 26, 2013 3:03 AM

Spain Levies Consumption Tax on Sunlight

Proving that idiocy truly has no bounds, Spain issued a "royal decree" taxing sunlight gatherers. The state threatens fines as much as 30 million euros for those who illegally gather sunlight without paying a tax.

The tax is just enough to make sure that homeowners cannot gather and store solar energy cheaper than state-sponsored providers.

Via Mish-modified Google Translate from Energias Renovables, please consider Photovoltaic Sector, Stunned 

 The Secretary of State for Energy, Alberto Nadal, signed a draft royal decree in which consumption taxes are levied on those who want to start solar power systems on their rooftops. The tax, labeled a "backup toll" is high enough to ensure that it will be cheaper to keep buying energy from current providers.

Spain Privatizes the Sun

Via Google translate from El Pais, please consider Spain Privatizes The Sun

 If you get caught collecting photons of sunlight for your own use, you can be fined as much as 30 million euros.

If you were thinking the best energy option was to buy some solar panels that were down 80% in price, you can forget about it.

“Of all the possible scenarios, this is the worst,” said José Donoso, president of the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF), which represents 85% of the sector’s activity.

Before the decree it took 12 years to recover the investment in a residential installation of 2.4 kilowatts of power. Following the decree, it will take an additional 23 years according to estimates by UNEF.

Petition of the Candle Makers Revisited 

And so the "Petition of the Candle Makers" comes to pass.

I have written about the "petition" on many occasions, but here is the latest reference: Extremely Difficult to Keep Up With Economic Stupidity

 Reflections on "Unfair Competition"

Corporations always consider it "unfair" when any other company can do things faster, smarter, or cheaper than they can. The buggy whip industry once protested cars.

Today, land-line telecom companies have to compete with wireless and they don't like it. Now, we see protests about VOIP (voice over internet protocol).

Technology marches on. But France does not like it. The French solution is to tax Skype because it has an "unfair advantage".

This is an age-old unwinnable argument.

Petition of the Candle Makers 

The ultimate irony is France's preposterous "unfair advantage" argument was lampooned by French economist Frederic Bastiat back in 1845 when he penned 'Petition of the Candle Makers'.

In his article, candle makers were incensed that the light of the sun could be had for free. The sun's unfair trade advantage was to the "detriment of fair industries" who could not compete against the sun's price.

Something had to be done to "shut off as much as possible, all access to natural light, and thereby create a need for artificial light" so that "industry in France will encouraged".

The moral to this story is "Don't propose something purposefully stupid hoping to make a point. Some idiot might actually think it's a good idea and do it".

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

Ex-IMF chief to be tried for pimping

Dominique Strauss-Khan faces trial along with 12 others in connection with alleged prostitution ring at a Lille hotel. Last Modified: 26 Jul 2013 14:28

Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be judged by a French criminal court [AFP]

Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn will face trial on pimping charges along with 12 others in connection with an alleged prostitution ring at a Lille hotel, the local prosecutors' office said. Investigation judges had determined on Friday that Strauss-Kahn should be judged by a criminal court in the case involving sex parties which he has acknowledged attending. Prosecutors had in June called for the charges of "aggravated pimping as part of an organised gang" against Strauss-Kahn, 64, who has been under investigation in the case since 2012, to be dropped, but investigating magistrates have decided he should face trial. "We are not in the realm of the law, we're in ideology. We are sending someone to court for nothing," Henri Leclerc, one of Strauss-Kahn's lawyers told the Reuters news agency. 'Aggravated pimping' Pimping under French law is a broad crime that can encompass aiding or encouraging the act of prostitution. Strauss-Kahn was charged with the more serious form because it allegedly involved more than one prostitute. The crime carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison and a fine of $2ml. The so-called Carlton affair, named after a hotel in Lille, involves sex parties which Strauss-Kahn says he was unaware that the women who participated were prostitutes. The former French finance minister quit his post as head of the International Monetary Fund in 2011 after being accused of raping a maid in New York, a charge that was later dropped.