Britain makes the best cars in the world, the problem is they only make a few dozen a year. All that hard work, just for Lewis Hamilton to lead a parade.
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Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
21–30 of 115 posts
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#22Just to add to the complexity of the issue: Part of the problem for the UK lies in the strength of the pound. The financial sector is so strong that it drives up the value of the pound beyond the demand for anything made in Britain. This makes it hard to compete on price in pounds. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease
If only there was some sort of regional currency, less susceptible to a single country’s economic changes, that one could use...
...if only that currency was controllable by Britain's government according to Britain's needs, instead of being run according to some other country's interests to propel its own economy (using a number of satellite states to vote in its favor) -- and causing the exact same problem the grandparent described in the periphery countries...
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#23All of the main parties in the UK keep skirting around the start of the solution to "rebalancing" the economy: massively increased taxes on the rich to pay for the required investment. This is not a new idea; low taxes for the wealthy are a relatively modern phenomenon yet the social mobility gap has been getting wider. There is surely enough support for it among a properly informed plebiscite, but they are never giv…
That’s one possible approach. The one I favour is a total moratorium on new building work in the South East. That’s the only way to force both workers and companies to look to the North.
The problem with “tax the rich” is that the numbers of truly rich are tiny and you could swallow their entire fortunes and they’ll be gone in a week. Exercise for the reader, how long would Richard Branson’s entire wealth run the NHS for?
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#24Just to add to the complexity of the issue: Part of the problem for the UK lies in the strength of the pound. The financial sector is so strong that it drives up the value of the pound beyond the demand for anything made in Britain. This makes it hard to compete on price in pounds. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease
If only there was some sort of regional currency, less susceptible to a single country’s economic changes, that one could use...
The ECB is not unbiased in the slightest, they always favour the northern states.
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#25The United States should study how the lost of manufacturing impacted Britain globally when dealing with China
It's perhaps inevitable. The Chinese, then the Dutch, then the British, now the American. It may simply be that China becomes the next top power. Ray Dalio on the matter: https://youtu.be/Mh0vEaac78U
No way
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#26Just to add to the complexity of the issue: Part of the problem for the UK lies in the strength of the pound. The financial sector is so strong that it drives up the value of the pound beyond the demand for anything made in Britain. This makes it hard to compete on price in pounds. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease
This is the biggest reason. The pound has been over-valued for entire generation, making hard to export.
The second biggest problem - my opinion - is the class / education system in the UK suppressed the possibility of the type of talent you need in upper and middle management to enable companies to scale. You need professionals that worked their way up on the basis of merit and ability and are used to self-learning and growth. Unfortunately a degree from Oxford or Cambridge was (is still?) pre-requisite for many forms of success in the UK, from business to entertainment. For UK manufacturing this led to a situation of “amateur entrepreneurs” at the top of companies and could get a company off the ground but would eventually fail to make the business sustainable, as they lacked professional support to guide them.
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#27The United States should study how the lost of manufacturing impacted Britain globally when dealing with China
It's perhaps inevitable. The Chinese, then the Dutch, then the British, now the American. It may simply be that China becomes the next top power. Ray Dalio on the matter: https://youtu.be/Mh0vEaac78U
The only reason China dropped out of super power status was tremendous sabotage/criminality by the top 5 economies of the world.
There rise is not a fluke, this is an inevitability of the planet we live on, India is next and it will outperform China by the end of this century (like it did in the past, pre-British invasion).
General ignorance of world history in the West will make this transition harder than it needs to be for Western populations.
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only there was some sort of regional currency, less susceptible to a single country’s economic changes, that one could use...
...if only that currency was controllable by Britain's government according to Britain's needs, instead of being run according to some other country's interests to propel its own economy (using a number of satellite states to vote in its favor) -- and causing the exact same problem the grandparent described in the periphery countries...
Yeah it’d be even better for Britain if it was in control of that currency, you’re definitely right there!
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only there was some sort of regional currency, less susceptible to a single country’s economic changes, that one could use...
The ECB is not unbiased in the slightest, they always favour the northern states.
Britain is definitely in the northern half of Europe.
Re: Why doesn't Britain make things any more? (2011)
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only there was some sort of regional currency, less susceptible to a single country’s economic changes, that one could use...
What do you suggest? German domination of the Euro has exactly the same effect on Southern Europe, the so-called PIGS.
We’re talking about what would be good for the UK. Countries that never had strong exports definitely wouldn’t benefit.