Should we split the banks up?
Poll started 24 January 2011: Should we split the banks up? Too big to fail, that's the cry. The independent commission on banking is debating whether we should split banks into their retail (the old fashioned credit cards, mortgages etc) and investment arms (the gambling bit, trading, international finance). The Pros: It's the retail arm that people worry more about failing, and it's the investment side that's riskier. So the split would leave the bits we use less likely to fail. The Cons: Many of the investment arms, which provide huge billions to the UK in tax receipts in good times, may leave and it'd be a real hit to the exchequer, meaning higher taxes or bigger cuts.
Poll started 24 January 2011:
Should we split the banks up?
Too big to fail, that's the cry. The independent commission on banking is debating whether we should split banks into their retail (the old fashioned credit cards, mortgages etc) and investment arms (the gambling bit, trading, international finance).
The Pros: It's the retail arm that people worry more about failing, and it's the investment side that's riskier. So the split would leave the bits we use less likely to fail.
The Cons: Many of the investment arms, which provide huge billions to the UK in tax receipts in good times, may leave and it'd be a real hit to the exchequer, meaning higher taxes or bigger cuts.
Results
| A. Split the banks up |  |
3,124 votes (65 %) |
| B. Keep it as is. | |
1,656 votes (35 %) |
4,780 votes received.
We try to use technology to limit voting to one per person. Occasionally, this may erroneously block a few people's votes (eg, from shared offices). Apologies for that.
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