Taxing the banks, something both Cameron and Clegg are keen on, won’t work to impress the banks in any way because they’ll immediately pass any costs on to the public.
Also Prime Ministers, in case you were in any doubt, do not have the authority to order private companies to operate in a manner against the interests of their shareholders, despite assurances to the contrary from all the major parties. None of them can order the banks to lend to anyone the banks don’t want to. They could if they were in China, but they’re not. In China, the banks are owned by the government, so when the government commands, they obey. It’s known as a command economy. I suspect the leaders of our major political parties are hoping that few of the electorate will know or understand this. A vain hope, perhaps, in this – the information age.
BB