UK productivity lowest since 2008: Osborne & Tories are failing

[gregbrighton]

More bad news for the Conservative government:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...vity-since-the-financial-crisis-a6974011.html

Everything is turning to shite under the Tories! I remember the succession of scandals and damaging news under the John Major government in the 1990's. It's shaping up to be a lot worse for Cameron and Co.

 

[GreersElbow]

I'll assume you know what productivity is, so how does the government boost productivity in the economy?

 

[heathgate]

Of course it is, ...... keep clutching at those straws...... all good from my perspective.

 

[El Presidente]

I'll assume you know what productivity is, so how does the government boost productivity in the economy?

On a micro level by increasing education and training opportunities for the maximum number of the current and future workforce. It can also incentivise investment by individual companies by offering tax incentives for capital expenditure.

On a macro level by boosting the country's infrastructure, in terms of transport and communications networks, as this speeds up the process of doing business, both domestically and from an export perspective, and doing it's best to minimise economic uncertainty.

 

[KingstonSeagull]

How's unemployment and GDP doing?

How was it when Labour were last in power?

Load of tripe.

 

[Acker79]

They must have been studying our office. Things are dead around here at the moment.

 

[beorhthelm]

On a micro level by increasing education and training opportunities for the maximum number of the current and future workforce. It can also incentivise investment by individual companies by offering tax incentives for capital expenditure.

On a macro level by boosting the country's infrastructure, in terms of transport and communications networks, as this speeds up the process of doing business, both domestically and from an export perspective, and doing it's best to minimise economic uncertainty.

both valid, however the affects don't show immediately. Osborne has don't nothing to help the economy, but then again there is no infrastructure investment in the pipeline to help either. a number of items were cut back in 2010 (in the only bit of austerity in 6 years), i dont recall any major infrastructure programmes getting canned. meanwhile HS2 moves on ponderously, which will help some time next decade, and London airport expansion is stuck in the Nimby mud.

 

[GreersElbow]

On a micro level by increasing education and training opportunities for the maximum number of the current and future workforce. It can also incentivise investment by individual companies by offering tax incentives for capital expenditure.

On a macro level by boosting the country's infrastructure, in terms of transport and communications networks, as this speeds up the process of doing business, both domestically and from an export perspective, and doing it's best to minimise economic uncertainty.

I would argue that the current Tory policy of promoting apprenticeships and vocational training is that, however, that'd take a few years. I don't think offering tax incentives is necessarily the best way to increase productivity in the real economy
I don't necessarily disagree with investing the country's infrastructure; https://data.oecd.org/lprdty/gdp-per-hour-worked.htm - if you were to check the GDP/per hour worked, British workers are still working more than the Americans, despite the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009, which pumped just under a trillion into the US economy, in areas of healthcare, education, energy etc etc. There was even a decent fiscal multiplier effect, but productivity per hour never really increased.

 

[El Presidente]

both valid, however the affects don't show immediately. Osborne has don't nothing to help the economy, but then again there is no infrastructure investment in the pipeline to help either. a number of items were cut back in 2010 (in the only bit of austerity in 6 years), i dont recall any major infrastructure programmes getting canned. meanwhile HS2 moves on ponderously, which will help some time next decade, and London airport expansion is stuck in the Nimby mud.

Agree totally. There are socio-economic and other reasons that are holding back productivity growth.

Political point scoring is oversimplifying the issue, although the government could do more, but that applies to previous administrations too.

There's an poorly educated, poorly supported underclass in the UK who have become totally disenfranchised from the mainstream, and whilst it's not growing swiftly, it does act as an anchor on the rest of the economy by consuming a disproportionate amount of resource.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

Shame this didn't all kick off before the election.

 

[El Presidente]

I would argue that the current Tory policy of promoting apprenticeships and vocational training is that, however, that'd take a few years.

Agreeed, I think the principle behind apprenticeships is correct, and an alternative to HE it is essential, especially if you want to reduce the economy's reliance on the service sector.

How vocational training is sold to a generation that see such work as beneath themselves is a challenge though, for all concerned.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Of course it is, ...... keep clutching at those straws...... all good from my perspective.

And there lies the problem in just a few words.
A refusal to admit the facts and a selfish git who cares about nobody else except himself.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

On a macro level by boosting the country's infrastructure, in terms of transport and communications networks, as this speeds up the process of doing business, both domestically and from an export perspective, and doing it's best to minimise economic uncertainty.

Ultimately, I'm not convinced that improvements to our transport network will cope with the extra 10-15% of vehicles that appear on our roads every year. We are now paying the price for lower quality road building and maintenance programmes and our ever wetter weather is wreaking havoc on road surfaces. Many major arterial routes are at or close to capacity now and the slightest blip in traffic flow now causes major delays.
Moving goods around our country to supply our ever increasing population is going to become more and more costly and these will be continually passed on to the consumer, along with the high fuel tariffs we pay in this country.

 

[Triggaaar]

On a micro level by increasing education and training opportunities for the maximum number of the current and future workforce. It can also incentivise investment by individual companies by offering tax incentives for capital expenditure.

On a macro level by boosting the country's infrastructure, in terms of transport and communications networks, as this speeds up the process of doing business, both domestically and from an export perspective, and doing it's best to minimise economic uncertainty.

So long term solutions then.

There's an poorly educated, poorly supported underclass

 

[El Presidente]

Ultimately, I'm not convinced that improvements to our transport network will cope with the extra 10-15% of vehicles that appear on our roads every year. We are now paying the price for lower quality road building and maintenance programmes and our ever wetter weather is wreaking havoc on road surfaces. Many major arterial routes are at or close to capacity now and the slightest blip in traffic flow now causes major delays.
Moving goods around our country to supply our ever increasing population is going to become more and more costly and these will be continually passed on to the consumer, along with the high fuel tariffs we pay in this country.

Fair comment.

Doctor Beeching has a lot to answer for, if only I could find a SONG to summarise his dismantling of the rail industry.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

Ultimately, I'm not convinced that improvements to our transport network will cope with the extra 10-15% of vehicles that appear on our roads every year. We are now paying the price for lower quality road building and maintenance programmes and our ever wetter weather is wreaking havoc on road surfaces. Many major arterial routes are at or close to capacity now and the slightest blip in traffic flow now causes major delays.
Moving goods around our country to supply our ever increasing population is going to become more and more costly and these will be continually passed on to the consumer, along with the high fuel tariffs we pay in this country.

This is a small country. Just look at the numbers of cars and congestion in Newhaven every single evening, what should take 5 mins to get back to say Peacehaven takes 20 mins, it's quicker cycling, and there is nothing they can do with this road to improve it.

 

[El Presidente]

So long term solutions then.

Yup, agree totally.

 

[Bozza]

Coincidentally, I read a piece in the Washington Post only yesterday afternoon about the very poor productivity position in the US: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...3b2dac-f824-11e5-9804-537defcc3cf6_story.html

Seems those pesky Tories are also f*cking over the world's biggest economy. Is there no end to their tyranny?

 

[Mo Gosfield]

This is a small country. Just look at the numbers of cars and congestion in Newhaven every single evening, what should take 5 mins to get back to say Peacehaven takes 20 mins, it's quicker cycling, and there is nothing they can do with this road to improve it.

All over the country, this situation is replicated. It is taking longer to get to and from work. More and more parents are jumping in cars and taking kids to school gates, which is helping to snarl up the morning rush hour even more. There seems to be cones everywhere and lane closures and diversions abound. Roads are constantly being dug up for purposes other than routine maintenance. People now regularly sit in their vehicles for long periods without moving and miss important meetings.
This is a small Island with finite resources and successive governments have tried to persuade us that an ever increasing population is sustainable and good for the economy. With this comes more and more vehicular movement and in key areas, more and more congestion. Our current network cannot cope and its only going to get a lot worse.

 

[Gwylan]

Ultimately, I'm not convinced that improvements to our transport network will cope with the extra 10-15% of vehicles that appear on our roads every year.

I don't know where you got those figures from - the department of made-up statistics,I assume - but the increase in traffic last year was 2.2% - and that was the highest increase for some time - mainly driven by lower petrol prices. The DoT figures can be found here.

By an amazing coincidence, I'm writing an article on the automotive industry and transportation right now, which is why I had those figures to hand, and there's a close correlation between GDP and increases in traffic. While it went up 2.2% in 2015, there's only been an increase of 3.6% in the last ten years - a reflection of the effects of the crash.

What's going to be interesting is the long term effect. We're already seeing petrol prices increase again but we're also going to see more restrictions placed on urban traffic (it's noticeable there's already a decline in city traffic, down about 3% in the last 10 years and as more restrictions are put in place, that will decline further.

The government has made the right noises about driverless cars and that's an area that can really expand in the future. We lost out on traditional cars but the UK could possibly steal a march here and that could certainly boost productivity in the future - but not for a long, long time