Monday, October 13, 2008

Smoking saviours

The Tempus column in The Times business section on Saturday offered advice on a prudent investment strategy for turbulent times

Boring is best. Look for strong balance sheets & predictable earnings. Eschew the more flashy sectors, geared to the whims of fashion & the moment

Among these dependables? Tobacco

So you see we smokers will be doing you an even greater favour. We do not commit murder & mayhem on the roads or in our city centres as do those who choose alcohol as their poison. We do not support some very nasty criminal organisations & consign hundreds of Third World mothers to our prisons in order to support our Class A habit

We stick with well-regulated suppliers who observe the employment laws.

And not only do we prop up the stock exchange, by paying a substantial tax on every packet we contribute more than our share of the taxes being used to prop up the rest of the financial system