Tuesday, May 26, 2009



Chosen insiders

Thursday is Budget day, and the government is apparently taking unparalleled steps to prevent any early leak of information:

Unprecedented security surrounds the release of Thursday's Budget amid fears that the details of a massive market-sensitive borrowing programme will be leaked.

As the Government racks up a mountain of debt, with big implications for interest rates and the dollar, the Treasury has introduced tough restrictions on who can get early access to Budget details.

Meanwhile, at the same time it is taking all these necessary steps to provide a fair market and prevent insider trading, the government has allowed international credit ratings agency Standard and Poors - a company which stunningly failed to manage its conflicts of interest over bank credit default swaps, and which is up to its neck in the current global financial crisis - a sneak peek at the budget. Security, it seems, only applies to us plebs - not to National's foreign masters.