IP: U.K. government in "agony" over Y2K stockpiling threat

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 15:19:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>






---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 20:07:08 +0000
From: Daeron Meyer <sneakerNOSP () Mdoubt com>
Subject: Government in "Agony" over Y2K Stockpiling threat


http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000158118408973&&pg=/et/98/7/9/ecfbug09.html


Stockpiling threat looms over Millennium


Even if the banks beat the bug, fears of cash
and food shortages may lead to chaos, says
Simon Davies


DOOMSDAY merchants having a field day with the
Millennium bug are finding their richest pickings in the banking
industry. Countless apocalyptic predictions are doing the
rounds. One, debated recently at a New York banking
conference, predicted that the failure of a single embedded
chip in the giant SWIFT interbank payment system could
cause a domino effect that would paralyse much of the
Europe/US banking business.


[...]


However, the Association of Payment and Clearing Services
(APACS), which represents the payments and cash system in
Britain, recently advised the Bank of England that the national
cash requirements for the two weeks each side of New Year's
Day, 2000, will be 50 per cent higher than for the average
December/January period.


[...]


None of this has anything to with the Millennium bug as such.
The scenario is created by secondary effects - fears and
rumours. And there is nothing the City of London likes better
than rumours. A straw poll conducted last week indicated that
seven out of 10 people familiar with the Millennium bug
problem will withdraw some or all of their money from banks
on the eve of the new century. Those with shares may sell off
stock in industries that are not Millennium-compliant. This
latter issue, says the Bank of England, is likely to become a key
problem in the finance sector.


If you think the cash situation may be precarious, spare a
thought for our food supply. Now that most supermarkets have
ditched warehouses in favour of "just in time" ordering from
suppliers, they scarcely have three days' supply in hand. If food
purchases follow the pattern of cash withdrawals, this supply
will soon disappear.


[...]


The industry-sponsored Taskforce 2000 group believes the
Government's approach is far too low-key. "Tony Blair said
three months ago that we should be treating this matter as an
emergency," said Robin Guenier. "Nothing has happened since
then, and every day lost is a day lost for ever.


"The Government is in agony over this. It doesn't want to be
held responsible for any panic, but it knows something has to
be done."


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