Live data from Hacker News

UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

ft.com

131–140 of 166 posts

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#131
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’m hoping the UK joins the United States. We’ve already started to merge our military industrial base and have a long, shared history. Maybe they would receive preference for US LNG/coal shipments too as a result. This is unrealistic bordering absurd, you just came out of Brexit sold under the pretense of increased freedom and sovereignty. The UK didn't even like the special deal it had with the EU, unique concess…

Our difference seems to be that I don’t put much weight on your view that nationalism will dominate the discussion. Standard of living will. My hope is UK citizens make decisions to benefit themselves, their family, friends, and community. The UK cannot maintain its current standard of living without a very large partnership of some sort. Once living standards get bad enough people will be open to non-traditional opt…

You think the the US would increase the British standard of living? There’s no way any Brit would go for anything the US has to peddle.

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#132

Government spending without a credible increase in government revenue creates inflation. It’s astounding how many people don’t see this. You can’t print money/credit and expect to maintain purchasing power. The UK needs to supply low cost energy, not print money to buy energy.

Dunno, seems like Japan has been trying that strategy for going on 20 years without any significant changes in inflation. Even though the explicit goal was to increase it.

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by saying £500k government homes? Is this a policy or a consequence of a housing shortage?

Housing shortage. Driven mainly by a wealthy class of nimby home owners.

The houses were originally bought 30ish years ago for around £40.000. It’s not like the current owners can retrieve any of that value increase. All the other houses around have increased by the same amount, so moving isn’t really realistic.

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#134
post #130
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upvoted. Same in Spain

I am disgusted every time I see a protest of pensioners or civil servants asking for even more money. It's practically buying votes. They truly are the privileged class.

Until you see what they are paid. I wouldn’t want to live on £500/month either.

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#135
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor trade relations is a big drag on the UK economy. If you can’t plan you can’t invest. I’m hoping the UK joins the United States. We’ve already started to merge our military industrial base and have a long, shared history. Maybe they would receive preference for US LNG/coal shipments too as a result.

> I’m hoping the UK joins the United States. We’ve already started to merge our military industrial base and have a long, shared history. Maybe they would receive preference for US LNG/coal shipments too as a result. This is unrealistic bordering absurd, you just came out of Brexit sold under the pretense of increased freedom and sovereignty. The UK didn't even like the special deal it had with the EU, unique concess…

I mean I agree it’s not popular, but the UK would be better off as a 51st state than they currently are now.

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#136

brexit. Everyone in the media try to ignore the elephant in the room. But, brexit. I know several companies who are winding down, because they can't export. Just too much trouble and money. It is everywhere, and nobody talks about it. brexit.

don't forget the 700 billion on lockdowns and the rona.

The UK didn’t lockdown as much or spend as much as neighbors on COVID. In fact, they were famously late to locking down with Boris Johnson opting for a “let her rip” strategy until much later.

And its continental neighbors are way more exposed to Russian gas than the UK is.

And yet the UK is doing significantly worse than its European neighbors. It’s the only major European country whose economy has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

What the UK is facing right now is uniquely UK. The most likely culprit is Brexit. The other possible culprit could simply be the absolutely corrupt and unstable governments it has had over the past couple of years. We know, for example, that Liz Truss’s month or so in charge cost the UK at least 50 billion dollars simply through immediate effects of the terribly I’ll-advised mini budget.

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#137
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ~100,000 Russian families who just had their son thrown into a meat grinder aren’t laughing. War is hell. People have been warning for years that Russia would continue attacking neighboring countries every other year or so, since it has been going on for years. Can’t blame the world for finally starting to fight back. If the UK government had war gamed this scenario, they would have realized many preparatory acti…

I mean, if, by "fighting back", you mean destroying its own economy, then yes, The West is "fighting back". But not the world , as the vast majority of nations - 7 Billion people -- are not imposing any sanctions because they have more rational leadership than in the 1 Billion people that are destroying their own economy in the name of "fighting back". The main reason why the West is in rapid decline at the moment is…

The vast majority of the world has no economic power to impose meaningful sanctions. They are suffering already.

The Ukraine situation is also a message to China, which makes it more worthwhile.

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks but no thanks. Britain joining the USA would be hell on earth. Why would we want coal? We have loads of it that we don't even dig out of the ground any more.

My mistake, I should have said oil.

The UK has no shortage of oil either. North Sea oil production is massive.

For example, a quick Google search revealed (I’m sure you can get newer figures) that North Sea oil provided over 60% of UK’s oil needs in 2012 and over 50% of its gas needs.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26326...

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#139
post #72

brexit. Everyone in the media try to ignore the elephant in the room. But, brexit. I know several companies who are winding down, because they can't export. Just too much trouble and money. It is everywhere, and nobody talks about it. brexit.

Whatever the opposite of an elephant in the room is, that's Brexit. It was talked about to death . It was the cause and reason for everything. It was talked up by as either a glorious thing or a monumentally cataclysmic event when it hit in 2020 and in the end it was... mildly negative. It was skilfully played up as a wedge issue for 5 years. The elephant in this room isnt Brexit it is war. (and idiotic energy policy…

So how is UK which is far less exposed to the war, and Russian gas and oil, doing so much worse than its continental neighbors which are way more exposed to all Of those?

The answer is Brexit. Brexit wasn’t mildly negative. Brexit has been catastrophic.

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/working-paper/2019/the-impac...

The Bank of England estimates that Brexit has knocked off 2-5% of UK’s productivity across the board and that’s only one of the 3 impacts they’ve discovered (including an 11% drop in investment).

Re: UK households set for largest fall in living standards in six decades

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They paid fuck all and set up a system that disproportionally rewards them and robs a future generations. Them voting to scuttle social democracy does not change the fact that the money they are getting back is their money.

They're not getting back their money. The contributions they paid were drastically lower than what current generation pays, and the payout is way higher than projected.

> The contributions they paid were drastically lower than what current generation pays

It doesn't work like that. At the time they paid, their contributions were significant. Inflation and the destruction of the economy through privatization do not change the fact that their money did its impact when it was impactful.

Its just a loan. At the time it was borrowed by the society, that money meant something. Today it wouldnt. But at the time, it did. They are entitled to getting that money back.

The criticism that can be raised against them is not receiving their own money back. Its them having voted for profiteering sociopaths one after another and having destroyed the society for the current generations.

Post reply on HN