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UK government to pay up to 80% of wages for employees not working

bbc.co.uk

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Re: UK government to pay up to 80% of wages for employees not working

#31

Post by gspr »

Ididntdothis wrote: post #8
jpxw wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately this isn’t true. A massive amount of debt is going to be racked up in this time. The economic impacts are not immediate, but they will come.

I wonder if the global debt levels will start the next wars. At some point one of the bigger countries will not be able or willing to serve its debt and who knows what will happen then?

Is it feasible to go to war with a country to collect on debts, though? If they're already having trouble paying, and the creditor is successful in its war, the debtor's economy will be so deep in shambles that repayment will be next to impossible.

Re: UK government to pay up to 80% of wages for employees not working

#32

Post by PragmaticPulp »

pjc50 wrote: post #16

And people keep saying that basic income is impossible. This is an astonishing U-turn, and a very welcome one. I just hope the social distancing isn't too late.

> And people keep saying that basic income is impossible.

This has nothing to do with UBI. It's a temporary measure designed to be counter-cyclical against the current catastrophe.

The defining feature of UBI is that it never ends. That's the opposite of temporary measures like this.

The two can't be compared as equivalent.

Re: UK government to pay up to 80% of wages for employees not working

#33

Post by Mvandenbergh »

jpxw wrote: post #5
tibbydudeza wrote: post #3

It is all funny fake made up money anyway ... there is enough resources for everybody.

Unfortunately this isn’t true. A massive amount of debt is going to be racked up in this time. The economic impacts are not immediate, but they will come.

Debt is just consuming now what we will produce later. That means that later we will have less. Luckily, the number which tells us how much it costs to shift production temporally: the real interest rate, is low. As a result, we can deal with the impact over the course of decades.

As long as there is no crisis of confidence in the ability to repay that debt, it will not be an issue.

Re: UK government to pay up to 80% of wages for employees not working

#34

Post by pjc50 »

Jupe wrote: post #17

So, with all these people not working... when do our supplies start to run out? I mean, the stores are getting replenished now; but what happens when the supply chain dries up for a period of time? Will we be able to boot-strap the supply chain to keep the economies of the world rolling?

(UK) Shelves are already very empty. Oddly this time the fresh stuff is still there and the non-perishable has gone. "Luxuries" are widely available, necessities aren't.

There's a lot of seasonal stuff in cold storage - the apples you buy are from last year.

Re: UK government to pay up to 80% of wages for employees not working

#35

Post by gspr »

empath75 wrote: post #18
tibbydudeza wrote: post #3

It is all funny fake made up money anyway ... there is enough resources for everybody.

>there is enough resources for everybody. Not if the factories and stores are all closed for extended periods of time. It won't be long until we have shortages.

There's no reason the factories providing short-term necessities can't be kept open.

Re: UK government to pay up to 80% of wages for employees not working

#36

Post by [deleted] »

pjc50 wrote: post #22
Ididntdothis wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need a UBI on a level that allows people to live. That’s a lot of money. Better to extend unemployment benefits for a limited time.

This is 80% of pre-existing wages! And, even though it's an employer subsidy, this is more beneficial in the long run if the economy recovers, because employers don't have to go through the fire/hire destruction and deadweight loss.

[deleted]

Re: UK government to pay up to 80% of wages for employees not working

#40

Post by cm2187 »

hacker_9 wrote: post #25
pjc50 wrote: post #16

And people keep saying that basic income is impossible. This is an astonishing U-turn, and a very welcome one. I just hope the social distancing isn't too late.

You understand this only helps in the short term right? Yeah we'll live, we'll also be poorer than ever at the end of this, and someone's gonna have to pay back this debt.

And will be massively expensive, will be financed by borrowing. Can't in any way be used long term.
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