CREDIT CRUNCH JOKES.

How do you define optimism?
A banker who irons five shirts on a Sunday.

What's the difference between an investment banker and a large pizza?
The pizza can still feed a family of four.

As a surprise, a chief exec's wife pops by his office.
She finds him in an unorthodox position, with his secretary sitting in
his lap. Without hesitation, he starts dictating: '. . . And in
conclusion, gentlemen, credit crunch or no credit crunch, I cannot
continue to operate this office with just one chair.'

Why have estate agents stopped looking out of the window in the morning?
Because, otherwise they'd have nothing to do in the afternoon.

Q: What's the difference between a merchant bank and Katie Price?
A: Both are institutions whose reputation is built on assets that, on
closer inspection, turn out to be entirely artificial, vastly
over-inflated and in danger of going through the floor at any moment.
But, at least Katie Price is still worth something.

What do you call five hedge fund managers at the bottom of the ocean?
A good start.

What's the difference between an investment banker and a pigeon?
The pigeon is still capable of leaving a deposit on a new Ferrari.

A lobbyist on his way home from Parliament is stuck in traffic.
Noticing a police officer, he winds down his window and asks: 'What's
the hold-up?' The policeman replies: 'The Prime Minister is so
depressed he's stopped his motorcade and is threatening to douse
himself with petrol and set himself on fire. He says no one believes
he can get us through the credit crunch. So, we're taking up a
collection for him.' The lobbyist asks: 'How much have you got so
far?' The officer replies: 'About 40 gallons, but a lot of people are
still siphoning.'

The credit crunch has helped me get back on my feet.
The car's been repossessed.

Latest news: The Isle of Dogs bank has collapsed.
They've called in the retrievers.

What do you say to a hedge fund manager who can't sell anything?
A Quarter-pounder with fries, please.

Overheard in a City bar: 'This credit crunch is worse than a divorce.
I've lost half my net worth and I still have a wife.'

The bank returned a cheque to me this morning, stamped: 'insufficient funds.'
Is it them or me?

You know it's a credit crunch when...

• The cash point asks if you can spare any change.

• There's a 'buy one, get one free' offer - on banks.

• The Inland Revenue is offering a 25 per cent discount for cash-payers.

• Gordon Brown has stopped chewing his nails and started sucking his thumb.

• Your builder asks to be paid in Zimbabwean dollars rather than sterling.

• High-grove has been repossessed.

• Victoria Beckham is pictured shopping in Primark.

• Alistair Darling's eyebrows have turned white.

I talked to my bank manager the other day and he said he was going to
concentrate on the big issues from now on.
He sold me one outside Boots yesterday.

A man went to his bank manager and said: 'I'd like to start a small
business. How do I go about it?' 'Simple, said the bank manager. 'Buy
a big one and wait.'

Money talks. Trouble is, mine knows only one word: 'Goodbye.'

A young man asked an elderly rich man how he made his money. 'Well,
son, it was 1932. The depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my
last penny, so I invested that penny in an apple. I spent the entire
day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold that apple
for ten pennies. 'The next morning I bought two apples, spent the day
polishing them and sold them for 20 pennies. I continued this for a
month, by which time I'd accumulated a fortune of £1.37. 'Then my
wife's father died and left us £2 million.'

And finally,

Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson are flying to a
world economic summit. Peter looks at Alistair and chuckles: 'You
know, I could throw a £50 note out of the window right now and make
one person very happy.' Alistair shrugs his shoulders and says: 'Well,
I could throw five £10 notes out of the window and make five people
very happy.' Gordon says: 'Of course, but I could throw ten £5 notes
out of the window and make ten people very happy.' The pilot rolls his
eyes, looks at all of them, and says: 'I could throw all of you out of
the window and make the whole country happy.