Matt Buck’s Hack Cartoons Diary

© Michael Cross and Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons

The Opinions of Tobias Grubbe for 26th April 1711 is published at this window, his patron Journalisted from the Media Standards Trust where you may read all about them.

There is a lot of focus at present on the prospects for the Euro, the European currency. This is because of the debt crisis in some of Europe’s smaller states, Ireland, Greece and Portugal.

However, until yesterday (Reuters link), there had been much less attention in the UK media about the debt crisis in the United States of America.

This link reveals that more than thirty of the fifty US states (in many cases much bigger economies than the named European countries – ProPublica link) are thought to be bankrupt and existing only through loans from the federal (national) government and with money created by the Federal Reserve Bank.

This process is roughly equivalent to the help that the European Union and the European Central Bank is giving (also on terms) to Ireland, Greece and Portugal.

Both the European and American authorities have been dealing with these debt problems by massively increasing the supply of paper money (through so-called Quantitative Easing. This devalues and dilutes the value of paper money already in circulation and makes goods and services more expensive for consumers and companies.

Numbers are tricky things but as the drawing indicates these money gushers, in Europe, America and here in the UK are a desperate policy endorsed and employed by desperate government authorities on either side of the Alantic.

If you know better please tell me how in the comments below. Thanks for reading.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons

Returning from the 2011 Shrewsbury Cartoon festival I had the traditional experience of a crammed Virgin Cross Country train, so much so that the floor outside first class and next to the toilet was a prime seating opportunity. I drew this while I was there.

Sir Richard, if you are reading, sort it out please.

The fringe benefit was meeting some lovely people including Irial and three marvellous mature ladies of a militant nature who insisted on keeping the door open to first class so we could at least breath first class air.

© Michael Cross and Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons

The Opinions of Tobias Grubbe for 11th April 1711 are published at this window. His patron Journalisted where you may read all about them.

I’ll be at the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival for the next few days where I will be making a Big Board and running the coverage of the event for Bloghorn.

Drawing at the Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival

All being well, I’ll post some details of what I get up to with many of my colleagues from the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation.

In redevelopment and ‘recovery.’

This week the British Retail Consortium reported the worst year-on-year sales since its records began in 1996.

© Michael Cross and Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons

The Opinions of Tobias Grubbe for 4th April 1711 is published at this window. His patron Journalisted where you may read all about them.