The Shitty Economy

Libor is holding the central banks hostage as credit freezes.

When did Libor start?

The measure started as a series of rates quoted by four banks as a reference for floating-rate notes and syndicated loans, Golden said.

The BBA began producing the unified rates known as Libor in 1986, an association spokesman said. That made Libor the natural benchmark when then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher abolished many restrictions on trading in the U.K., leading to an explosion in the range of products on offer, said David Clark, former head of funding at European Investment Bank, the European Union's Luxembourg-based development bank.

Thatcher was an ardent Uncle Miltie cultist.