71–80 of 166 posts
This is 100% caused by the anti-Russian sanctions policy, yet not a single comment on this thread so far has even mentioned the sanctions and tried to engage in a reasoned debate about whether the economic costs paid by Europe (and especially the energy insecure nations within the EU) were worth whatever moral good boy points the sanctions buy us. Some have suggested the sanctions help Ukraine, but haven't articulate…
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.
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)
Don't worry, the Tories will just cut taxes on the rich again and that will fix everything /s
After the current term is over, it’s unlikely Tories are going to wield political power for a while.
The likely hood is that, if Labour win, they will be faced with such a mess that they will struggle to make the necessary improvements. The conservatives, will move towards the centre, and with the right leader could regain power after a single term out.
The left is fragmented (party wise), the right is not. Labour will always have an uphill battle unless we have electoral reform.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only there was some form of large market close by that the UK could be a member of so that the UK could trade with them in a frictionless manner and expand the economies of both areas through trade. That would increase the GDP and hence the amount of money the government could have available to it through taxation. But I don't think there is anything like that around. I mean, if there was, why the hell wouldn't th…
If only. Of course, you mean the EU. But the UK has run a trade deficit of $60bn with the EU for the last 10 years or so. Leaving hasn't helped that, but staying wouldn't have either. Something has to change in the relationship - something deep and real. The fundamental is the competitive advantage that the Euro confers on the German economy. Brexit is a way it can change overtime, there won't be an advantage for the…
Unlike Germany, UK has always been free to establish any exchange rate they desired, between GBP and EUR. So only UK could have any advantages from the manipulation of the currencies.
Within the countries that use EUR, it can be claimed that Germany has the advantage that the other countries cannot cheat and compensate other economic problems by playing with the exchange rate. In my opinion that is a good thing, because stealing money from the people by devaluating their assets through artificial exchange rates is not the right solution for solving international commerce imbalances.
This is 100% caused by the anti-Russian sanctions policy, yet not a single comment on this thread so far has even mentioned the sanctions and tried to engage in a reasoned debate about whether the economic costs paid by Europe (and especially the energy insecure nations within the EU) were worth whatever moral good boy points the sanctions buy us. Some have suggested the sanctions help Ukraine, but haven't articulate…
Do you have any sources showing how the Russian economy is growing?
[0] https://www.ft.com/content/e4f0cb9b-695c-4cc3-92c8-f8371de2a...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't really understand the perspective your are saying. The UK was basically the ONLY country that helped Ukraine straight away when the war started, it was the UK that dragged the US along, and Germany is still dragging its feet on arms supplies. And I'm not saying that as someone who thinks Ukraine should be supported at all costs, but what the UK did was admirable. If you mean Brexit, yes, there is some blame h…
> I don't really understand the perspective your are saying. He thinks that helping Ukraine defend themselves against a foreign invasion qualifies as "warmongering", obviously he's a Russia-aligned troll. Don't waste too much time trying to unravel his thought processes.
Don't worry, the Tories will just cut taxes on the rich again and that will fix everything /s
This is such a simplified viewpoint. The UK has never been able to collect more than 39%-40% of GDP in taxes. And that's what the level is at now. Already everyone is paying as much tax as in history. (and the "rich" pay a lot of that, remember you pay £0 tax under £15,000 income per year). You can try and tax more, but it's highly unlikely to work based on past experience. And in these cases, like with corporation t…
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.
Would be funny if you're an American. The UK has almost half the debt-to-GDP of the US thanks to years of austerity. > The UK needs to supply low cost energy, not print money to buy energy. Sure, but you can't do that over night and not temporarily backstopping consumers until that supply comes online risks bankrupting businesses and putting even more strain on the economy. So long as it's temporary it's probably the…
A larger debt means more interest payments which makes a significant deficit more likely, but it's that deficit, aka change in money supply, that affects inflation not the absolute size of the debt.
I'll get downvoted for this, but this isn't true if you're one of the two protected classes in the UK: pensioners or welfare recipients. Both will see their income rise with inflation. If you're working then, sure, you're getting screwed as always because after just spending billions locking down the economy to saving boomers from Covid, this year we decided to spend billions bailing out boomers pensions, paying for…
Those boomers spend that money. The money enters the economy. It creates the economic activity needed for the ones who you call 'those who work' to be able to do business and make money.
Pumping money to boomers, the poor, disabled and the underprivileged is the easiest way to stimulate an economy. Not giving more money to the rich.
> all the money we've borrowed for the boomers
Those boomers have worked for 40+ years and PAID that money that they are taking now into the treasury. Its THEIR money. For decades, your government used that money in its own affairs to fund many things. Those boomers literally facilitated those governments' policies and the economy.
It needs to be said again - its THEIR money. You are not giving them something out of goodwill as a charity. You are paying back the money that they LOANED to the society.
Its debt. They are your debtors. You have to pay back your debtors.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just can't help but think there's some truth in the conspiracy theory I read on twitter from Kim Dotcom... this Ukraine war is an awfully convenient way for the US to completely decouple and destroy Europe and Russia. Which is a massive win for... the US. Who definitely didn't do much to PREVENT this war at any point. I don't think this was necessarily 100% intentional, but it definitely seems like an energy indepe…
The war was and is caused by exactly one party, and that's Russia.