UK equivalents to US Institutions and Acts

Economics Economics Questions
1

I am preparing a presentation for a British audience about the financial crisis. I am using Tom Woods’ book Meltdown as my main resource for the specifics. What I would like to know is to what extent I can assume that the same issues Woods discusses as factors causing the US meltdown also caused the UK meltdown. Despite being British, most of my knowledge comes from American sources, so I am more comfortable talking about the American situation than the British.

I have two general questions, and then some specific questions:

  1. Are there any really important differences in terms of institutions or Acts between the UK and US? [Obviously there are slight differences, like the different ownership system the Fed has compared to the BoE, but since they are both central banks, I do not believe this to be an important difference.]

  2. To what extent is the British economy tied to the US economy? [By which I mean, how legitimate would it be for me to say “this is a worldwide crisis, and the US has the world reserve currency, so I am only going to talk about the American institutions and Acts, because the British ones are irrelevant”]

  3. What are the UK equivalents (if they exist) of:

  • Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
  • The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation?
  • The Community Reinvestment Act?
  • The Equal Credit Opportunity Act?

Finally, does anyone know of any Austrian sources that discuss the UK situation in particular?

Thanks.

2

Don’t quote me on this, but you might want to check out UKIP, the Cobden Centre and The Daily Bell. Those are Austrian or pseudo-Austrian sources with a very European perspective. Jon Irenicus may have some good sources for you.

3

If I’m not mistaken, Steve Baker is the Ron Paul of the U.K. I could be mistaken, however. Also, our Constitution is a living document (and was intended to be so), just like theirs’ is unwritten.

4

Thanks for the leads guys.

5

Whose Constitution is and was intended to be a living document? And a link or two to back this up please.