. . . bonds for savers, too
WE NEED the private shareholder — but what about the private bondholder? Why not tap his savings, too? The building societies know how, with their neatly packaged offers and guaranteed interest rates for two years or five years. Why not do it for companies? When next ICI wants to raise £500 million, why not an issue of ICI bonds at £500 each, combining good interest with a famous name and total safety — and marketed through every branch of the Abbey National? St Michael bonds for Marks & Spencer from the Midland? Or from the financial services side of Marks & Spencer? There must be a huge untapped market here. All Mr Major needs to do is to give it a push. He prepares for his first Budget in the knowledge that he has no room for conventional give- aways. This will be a tight Budget but he can achieve his effect either by raising taxes or by stimulating savings. In econo- mic terms — in terms of their effect on demand in the economy — they come to the same thing. On the receiving end they are different as can be. The receiving end will quite soon be the voting end, but Mr Major needs no prompter to tell him that.
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