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By Julia Kukiewicz Staff Writer
Friday, 22 May 2009
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Previous Money News Roundups
See our other recent Money News Roundups and other related news stories:
Money News Roundup (15 MAY 09)
In this week's money news roundup with Julia Kukiewicz buy your very own village, get rid of your pin number and find out about the credit cards you can use for travel insurance.
Money News Roundup (08 MAY 09)
In this week's money news roundup with Julia Kukiewicz find out why NatWest's MoneySense scheme is starting to feel more like a MoneyScam, all about thousands of secret credit cards and the £s you need to keep a man happy.
Money News Roundup (1 MAY 09)
Find out why Iggy Pop is out of a job, how the changes to Egg credit cards could affect you and who would buy their botox from ebay in this week's money news round up with Julia Kukiewicz.
Money News Roundup (24 APR 09)
In this week's budget money news with Julia Kukiewicz: why are credit card companies closing their ears to the budget's warnings and how could the 50% tax and deflation affect you?
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BRITAIN'S credit rating, the price of tea and placing bets on the downturn in this week's money news roundup.
Backing up Britain's Credit Rating
WE all know how stressful it can be to have a bad personal credit rating. So, how should we react to the news that the whole country is set to get a slap on the wrist from ratings agencies?
Last month the Treasury reported a record £8.5bn budget deficit and national debt is at its highest level since 1976.
If the UK loses its tip-top AAA credit rating, the cost of Government borrowing would rise and foreign investors would be likely to dump the pound.
If all the ratings agencies do decide to give Britain a negative rating presumably some next step will be necessary - the country-wide equivalent of a first-time credit card. And that means that things are likely to get worse, or at least more thrifty, before they get better.
Financial Storm in a Teacup
AND if you thought that news was bad you obviously haven't heard the news about tea.
According to Unilever, droughts and the falling pound will push up the price of tea next month, around 50p on top of the price of 160 tea bags.
British tea drinkers consume approximately 165,000,000 cups every day, around three quarters of them are drunk whilst avoiding doing work (ok I made that last bit up).
According to Bill Gorman, executive chairman of the tea council, though, "...farmers who produce tea have actually been experiencing a drop in profits over the past 10 years ... a modest increase is actually good for the farmers." See, that made you feel bad for moaning didn't it?
In any case, according to The Guardian, you could offset your pricey tea with some less-pricey Jaffa Cakes. A packet of 12 now costs 3% less than in May last year.
Now that's some financial planning everyone can enjoy.
Odds on Unemployment
A betting firm in Australia has been criticised for offering odds on the country's unemployment rates.
Centrebet admitted the increasingly popular bets were "socially sensitive", although not, as Treasury figures and the Salvation Army claimed, "distasteful".
There is a nice ring to using a system of financial instability to bet on a financially unstable system.
"Maybe if Centrebet staff were being made redundant they might change their minds about making light of something so serious," local Rebecca Galton told the press. "Still," she added, "I might place a bet myself. I could do with some extra money right now."
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