The UK economy: well on the road to recovery?

[Napper]

Wages have fallen for 36 months straight under this gov
millions unemployed with zero hour contracts
disabled people being evicted due to bedroom taxes
1 million young people unemployed
cost of living multiple times the rate of wages
NHS all but sold off

Yet corporations have increased profits by millions hence the term "growth"

Get real !

 

[Gullys Cats]

The construction sector is certainly picking up, especially in the south east. Usually the first to suffer and the last to recover.

I agree, I was having the same conversation with a hodd carrier last week.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

House prices, particularly in the south, have almost got back to pre recession levels and rising further. This surely cant be a good thing- I worry that my two children who at the moment both rent properties in Brighton won't every be able to get on the housing ladder. If they did they will start at a relatively low interest rate but they will eventually go up thus increasing monthly payments. Another housing bubble would be a disaster.

 

[drew]

Does anyone have access to statistics compare by how much national economies shrunk since 2008?

 

[Notters]

What is wrong with a "flat" economy?
It can not grow forever that is just common sense, so how high can it go and why can we not maintain it at a certain level?

Capitalism is based on endless growth, which is why it'll go tits up eventually, as we have finite resources.

 

[Dandyman]

Mass unemployment, slashed services, falling living standards and declining value of real wages. It may be happy days for the Billionaire Boys Club but the rest of us are still getting screwed.

 

[Dandyman]

Wages have fallen for 36 months straight under this gov
millions unemployed with zero hour contracts
disabled people being evicted due to bedroom taxes
1 million young people unemployed
cost of living multiple times the rate of wages
NHS all but sold off

Yet corporations have increased profits by millions hence the term "growth"

Get real !

This.

 

[Tsp92]

I'm not so sure in fairness, it's going to be a very long road to recovery but I can only hope we get there before our family and co suffer the same issues this generation are starting too.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Wages have fallen for 36 months straight under this gov
millions unemployed with zero hour contracts
disabled people being evicted due to bedroom taxes
1 million young people unemployed
cost of living multiple times the rate of wages
NHS all but sold off

Yet corporations have increased profits by millions hence the term "growth"

Get real !

And thats just a small part of it, nice bit of timing as well, just as the unions are meeting in Bournemouth as they and Milliband will slag the government off. I dont trust anything that comes out of Camerons or Osbournes mouth, we have a government that is cruel, devisive and nasty, the economy is fragile at best, i am not a socialist, not sure labour is the answer, we will always boom and bust, the rich get richer, the poor suffer, thr middle classes are squeezed until our eyes pop.
We are in a political mess, i hate the privatised companies that are ripping us off with no control. In my lifetime this is the worst i have known, and that us really saying something with the idiots we have had in the past.

 

[jakarta]

And thats just a small part of it, nice bit of timing as well, just as the unions are meeting in Bournemouth as they and Milliband will slag the government off. I dont trust anything that comes out of Camerons or Osbournes mouth, we have a government that is cruel, devisive and nasty, the economy is fragile at best, i am not a socialist, not sure labour is the answer, we will always boom and bust, the rich get richer, the poor suffer, thr middle classes are squeezed until our eyes pop.
We are in a political mess, i hate the privatised companies that are ripping us off with no control. In my lifetime this is the worst i have known, and that us really saying something with the idiots we have had in the past.

I would be interested to know when you were born. I lived through the wonderful late 1970's and early 1980's and the last few years was nothing like as bad as that period....

 

[melias shoes]

The construction sector is certainly picking up, especially in the south east. Usually the first to suffer and the last to recover.

Definitely. Construction has been buoyant for the last 12 months. Wages are recovering to where they were before 2008. Been bloody tough though.

 

[Beach Hut]

So, why do we do it? I can never understand this.

The majority of income earning and tax paying companies are based on capitalism and some of these companies all tax payers own at present.

 

[melias shoes]

It's back to the same level it was when Labour left Number 10. Is this progress?

Imagine what it would have sunk to if that shower had stayed in.

 

[Dandyman]

If HS2 goes ahead then it will be a spectacular waste of money

For once, I actually agree with you on something.

 

[melias shoes]

I would be interested to know when you were born. I lived through the wonderful late 1970's and early 1980's and the last few years was nothing like as bad as that period....

Agree with that.

 

[ROSM]

Imagine what it would have sunk to if that shower had stayed in.

Interesting question. I suppose it depends if you 'buy the mantra' invented by Andy coulson on day 1 of the coalition when all ministers were instructed to say 'the financial crisis we have inherited from labour is much worse than we had been led to believe'

If you believe that then you would assume that if labour had been left in charge then it would have been a disaster. Of course that would be ignoring that growth was at the level that Osborne is now heralding as success. Or indeed that the total cuts that Alistair darling had stated are leas than 5% different from that we now have.

The real issue is where the cuts have been made and at what pace.

If however you subscribe to the view that the conservatives have made cuts based on ideology rather than necessity and have targetted those in society less able to defend themselves then you may believe that the other lot would have done a better job albeit over a slower period

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Yet corporations have increased profits by millions hence the term "growth"

Get real !

.....and profits means lots of corporation tax for the treasury!

Oh.

 

[Lifelong Supporter]

How many of you are owning a smart phone at £25 a month or more and if so why ?

 

[Surf's Up]

And thats just a small part of it, nice bit of timing as well, just as the unions are meeting in Bournemouth as they and Milliband will slag the government off. I dont trust anything that comes out of Camerons or Osbournes mouth, we have a government that is cruel, devisive and nasty, the economy is fragile at best, i am not a socialist, not sure labour is the answer, we will always boom and bust, the rich get richer, the poor suffer, thr middle classes are squeezed until our eyes pop.
We are in a political mess, i hate the privatised companies that are ripping us off with no control. In my lifetime this is the worst i have known, and that us really saying something with the idiots we have had in the past.

We're always in a political mess because politicians are egotistical bulshitters riding high on the hog. Capitalism is f**ked, socialism is f**ked, communism is f**ked, so where do we go from here?

 

[Beach Hut]

If however you subscribe to the view that the conservatives have made cuts based on ideology rather than necessity and have targetted those in society less able to defend themselves then you may believe that the other lot would have done a better job albeit over a slower period

I think the cuts made have been far too severe in some areas and unrealistic expectations are in place for job creation.

Also this recent recession has proved far harder on smaller business than previous, the trouble is the vicious circle it has bought especially for banks. They were slaughtered for not lending then given money to lend but also told to improve their balance sheets, I am no economic guru at all but the answer there is blindingly obvious as to what happens next.