Gordon places the blue chips on the roulette table

Guido reckons the recent set of guarantees that have come out of the government are worth £10k / tax payer.

The truth is its a gamble. It could pay of, or just lose a little but we would still be ahead.

Or the economy and markets could tank and our misery be far worse than if Gordon hadn't gambled with out money. He's placing the big chips on the roulette table now and we have to see which number comes up.

Now this all sounds a bit familiar does it ? Oh yes its like all those clever financial instruments that got us into all this trouble in the first place. Fine unless the unexpected happens - which we now know it does more often than people credit.

In short (sorry about the pun) Gordon is doing what the banks did earlier that got us into this trouble. Perhaps he should ease up on the righteous indignation next time ....

PS If you really want to scare yourself witless think about what the Treasury is dreaming up in case this fails .... My guess is the temporary confiscation of savings and pensions.

Also note that the amount of money is 4 times, by the estimate of one commentator ionGuido's post, per tax payer the amount at risk in the US.

Update: Horrifyingly its begining to look like our number hasn't come up.