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UK economy.
- Thread starter Leekbrookgull
- Start date
Indeed.
Osborne is just a spin doctor as are almost all politicians. That's their job.
If you vote for a political party based on what you think they will do to assist this country's economy as a whole (GDP) then you are very stupid or at best misguided. Politicians don't change it and it's actually pretty irrelevant to the standard of living of most individuals.
Have you ever thought about how GDP is actually calculated? It's meaningless guesswork at best. Ever helped a company fill in an ONS survey? They base GDP calculations on this nonsense.
Of course the rate at which the country borrows money is affected by what the markets see as a strong or weak economy (tax receipts not so if growth is caused by offshore trusts buying property in London for 100s of £M).
But apart from that, national GDP growth or contraction figures basically mean nothing when you're talking about one or two percent either way.
The thing that has affected this country over the past few years is the reluctance of banks to lend to businesses. Reluctance caused by them ruining the credit market in the first place and then being forced to recapitalise by the governments who bailed them out.
And some people still think it was caused by Northern Rock. FFS.
Osborne is just a spin doctor as are almost all politicians. That's their job.
If you vote for a political party based on what you think they will do to assist this country's economy as a whole (GDP) then you are very stupid or at best misguided. Politicians don't change it and it's actually pretty irrelevant to the standard of living of most individuals.
Have you ever thought about how GDP is actually calculated? It's meaningless guesswork at best. Ever helped a company fill in an ONS survey? They base GDP calculations on this nonsense.
Of course the rate at which the country borrows money is affected by what the markets see as a strong or weak economy (tax receipts not so if growth is caused by offshore trusts buying property in London for 100s of £M).
But apart from that, national GDP growth or contraction figures basically mean nothing when you're talking about one or two percent either way.
The thing that has affected this country over the past few years is the reluctance of banks to lend to businesses. Reluctance caused by them ruining the credit market in the first place and then being forced to recapitalise by the governments who bailed them out.
And some people still think it was caused by Northern Rock. FFS.
I wouldn't vote Tory if you paid me. Never have and never will.
Wally Goulds right toe
New member
- May 27, 2014
- 64
Probably that there is a fractionally reduced chance of having your house repossessed and/or losing your job. Other than that - not much.
Wally Goulds right toe
New member
- May 27, 2014
- 64
Or maybe they actually read 'Das Kapital' and this has lead them to understand the fundamentally flawed nature of capitalism and this is the basis of their principled voting intentions.
Wally Goulds right toe
New member
- May 27, 2014
- 64
I'm 60 and also have never voted tory. However, if by some miracle they were to propose ending the 'wars on terror and drugs' I might well consider it.
.BILLIONS, NOT MERE MILLIONS, at least get the scale of your nonsense right.
Tony Towner's Fridge
Well-known member
There has never ever been a Labour Government that has had economic prudence and foresight. Osborne has turned around the general economy but only recently has started to address the geographic imbalances. Also missed a huge trick in regenerating the housing market. Should have kick started the economic revival by pouring tens of billions into affordable housing and self build schemes.
Still they have put an emphasis on a technology and high-tec enterprise economy which would appear to be paying dividends..
TNBA
TTF
No not really in my trade. From my point of view my sons are out working now, and my mortgage paid, but the rate is still the same as 10 years ago, so personally even though gas, elec and bills have risen i am not affected.
On the other hand, sparks/construction workers that took out mortgages around 10 years ago, may now have kids, but are on the SAME rate are struggling....it is those and the youngsters that are trying to go forward that are not better off.
As a working class chap who has worked through two Labour and two Tory governments, the Labour reigns have been far worse, hopefully they will not get in power again in my lifetime. I have never voted Tory in my life, and feel embarrassed that i voted for a party that was supposed to look after the working class.
Maybe i should vote for this lot next
Apologies to those who are easily offended.
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Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
How stupid are you ?
Billions or millions does not matter, if you have a load of money it gets bigger no matter what
London Irish
Well-known member
Indeed if we had those lefty planks in charge the deficit would still be going up ! They whine on and on about austerity, but we were all in it together and now there is no deficit.
Erm, I can't really tell if you are doing a kind of "politics" ENREST here and satirising the stupidity of Tory supporters.
But for the record, national debt is up about £500bn since the Eton boys took charge.
Slowest recovery from a recession in UK recorded history under the Tories. Worst recovery of any G7 nation except Italy. Tory policies have been a shambles because they cut instead of investing and stimulating - and the only reason why we have any growth at all is because they blew out the deficit!
Labour has a consistent lead of about 5 points in the polls which is a majority of about 30 seats.
The Tories complacently think that will erode once we get closer to the election, but with the only people getting any wage rises being company board excutives and MPs, I think they are in for a bit of a shock.
Could you post the details that prove that please.
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,015
yep, and had Balls been in charge with his policies (cut less, slower) we'd have run up more debt.
http://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/07/27/update-labour-lead-1/
Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 25th July - Con 35%, Lab 36%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%
DNB_Seagull
Dirty Northerner. For now
- Apr 27, 2014
- 579
BBC radio 6 news - 'You may not feel richer' probably coz its going to billionaires. Welcome to tory Britain. Britain has shot up the ranks in most billionaires per 100,000 people.
Seagull58
In the Algarve
If you want to see how well communism is working take a good look at South Africa where there are 7 members of the South African Communist Party in the (socialist) cabinet. Economic growth currently around 2% compared to the African average of 5 to 10%, official unemployment well over 30% and unofficially probably over 40%, trade unions striking for 100% wage increases in the mining sector (although accepting a lot less) and for 12% per annum in manufacturing.
London Irish
Well-known member
Yup - this from the Financial Times a few days ago, which editorially supported Cameron in the 2010 gen election.
Longest UK slump in a century ends
By Sarah O’Connor and George Parker
Britain has finally emerged from its longest economic slump in more than a century, an achievement hailed by chancellor George Osborne as a “major milestone” in the recovery from the financial crash and six years of lost growth.
The collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 heralded a savage moment of reckoning for Britain’s economy; the shock that started in the financial sector wiped 7.2 per cent off national output, wrecking the public finances.
Of the G7 major economies, only Italy has taken longer than the UK to regain its pre-crisis size and output per head in Britain is still 4 per cent below its pre-crisis level. A muted Mr Osborne admitted there was “still a long way to go”.
Here's the chart from the Indy's economics guy:
https://twitter.com/BenChu_/status/492597192960790528
Let me know if you have any questions.
London Irish
Well-known member
The 5% figure is from the recent average of ALL opinion polls, not one - I could have quoted one in the Sun the other days that gave Miliband a 7% lead
Useful chart, cheers.
Our economy suffered more than most, as it was a world financial crisis, and a huge part of our economy is in the finance sector. It looks like we're recovering well.