Save the banks, save 5130 lives
Our banking analyst pointed out this academic paper to us. The joint work by the Universities of Cambridge and California shows that banking crises cause a significant increase in deaths from heart disease. In developed countries the increase is 6.4%, and for poor countries 26.0%. The authors estimate that a severe UK banking crisis would result in up to an additional 5130 deaths. It concludes that the decision to bail out Northern Rock has saved many lives, although it wrongly attributes this boost to our national well-being to Mervyn King (who would have watched us all turn blue on the carpet) rather than those twin angels of mercy, Brown and Darling.
The value of investments will fluctuate, which will cause prices to fall as well as rise and you may not get back the original amount you invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
17 years of comment
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