"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 12:34:29 +0000, Julian Fowler
wrote:

They can: is it not obscene that "designer" clothes are sold at
immense profit to their designers/marketers while they are made by
workers in third world countries for poverty-level wages? Is it not
obscene that city traders can take 6- or 7- figure bonuses while the
rest of us are told that "the value of shares can go up or down" as
our pensions, endowments, and savings take yet another hit? Is it not
obscene that capital is often available only to businesses that can
convince the bankers controlling the capital (controlling, note, its
never *their* money) that the company to be invested in can be sold on
at a profit in 36 months -- sod ideas like investing in a *product* or
in *people* for a slow but long term return.

So, if another carpetbagger succeeds next time in demutualising
Standard Life or Nationwide and your shares or policies suddenly paid
you a huge bonus out of the blue, you'd say, "No, thanks! Don't need
it!"

In the long term probably not needed.