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UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

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Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#91
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t believe Brits are capable of revolting against this. They did hit the streets in anti-lockdown protests though, which is ironic because in the grand scheme of things that (lockdown) was temporary, but this inflation wave will be madly felt for quite long.

The anti-lock down protesters were a fringe group. An energy crisis is different matter. It will not only affect the lunatic fringe, this will affect everyone.

It would be an interesting case study for leaders around the world - confiscate a huge chunk of liberty and you will have a fringe protest, lose a few thousand pounds from chequebooks and you will have blood.

Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#93
post #61
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and the government is doing nothing. What do you think the government should do?

Tax those who can afford it to help those that can't. At some point if the rich continue to demand sacrifice of the poor to prop up their gathering of wealth, it'll be guillotines in the streets. Historically Britain's upper class has been sensible at offering compromise to avoid extreme change, but it appears the current crop think their control of the media is enough to keep the population placid while they suffer.…

>Tax those who can afford it to help those that can't.

So...tax those whose income is higher than Latty's income - 1 pound? I am sure you can afford it.

A new progressive tax regime requires a lot of research, consultations, political capitals, and most importantly, time. We don't have a lot of time right now.

Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#94
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tax those who can afford it to help those that can't. At some point if the rich continue to demand sacrifice of the poor to prop up their gathering of wealth, it'll be guillotines in the streets. Historically Britain's upper class has been sensible at offering compromise to avoid extreme change, but it appears the current crop think their control of the media is enough to keep the population placid while they suffer.…

The problem with the approach of "tax this and tax that" is that it often ends up hurting the lower and middle classes the most. I am very skeptical about any new taxes aiming for wealth distribution that are not very explicit about who should pay that tax.

This is basically an inverted 'trickle down economics' argument which has been shown time and again to be bunk.

Taxing rich folk more doesn't hurt poor people who don't pay those taxes.

Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#95
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t believe Brits are capable of revolting against this. They did hit the streets in anti-lockdown protests though, which is ironic because in the grand scheme of things that (lockdown) was temporary, but this inflation wave will be madly felt for quite long.

The anti-lock down protesters were a fringe group. An energy crisis is different matter. It will not only affect the lunatic fringe, this will affect everyone.

No post body was provided.

Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since this is also related to higher energy prices, do you think the invasion on Ukraine is also a contributing factor? Although if that were the case, we’d also see as high of inflation in other European countries?

That's definitely a contributor, but, as you say, it's generally worse in the UK than in other large European countries. This whole thing is a bit of a perfect storm for the UK.

Have you heard of the plight of an even larger European country? Hint: it rhymes with Burmany.

It's bad in the UK, to imagine it's the worst in the UK vs Europe is to show your ignorance.

Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#97
post #30

With two candidates for the next UK PM having polar opposite views on how to fix the economy, who do you think is more correct in their proposal: Sunak or Truss?

Neither one will be held accountable for what they ultimately do so what does it matter what they say prior to appointment?

Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#98
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tax those who can afford it to help those that can't. At some point if the rich continue to demand sacrifice of the poor to prop up their gathering of wealth, it'll be guillotines in the streets. Historically Britain's upper class has been sensible at offering compromise to avoid extreme change, but it appears the current crop think their control of the media is enough to keep the population placid while they suffer.…

The problem with the approach of "tax this and tax that" is that it often ends up hurting the lower and middle classes the most. I am very skeptical about any new taxes aiming for wealth distribution that are not very explicit about who should pay that tax.

Yes? That's why I was very specific about who should pay it. This is such a common response to any taxation. It is true that any solution done wrong can make things worse, but that's not a reason not to try and solve the problem, it's a reason to do it right.

The alternative, not taxing anyone much, has been tried: it gets us here, with public services collapsing and the country becoming less and less desirable to exist in. We are so far on the left of the Laffer curve it is laughable, even if we ignore the insanity of assuming that the value of having a society that functions isn't relevant.

Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this matches how I feel. The world was just very different pre-2020. It's all just gone phone call nonsense. Everyone is slacking off, productivity is through the floor, endless queues for everything, shortages, public transport use way down, etc. I haven't even had a proper full time job since then because as far as I can tell literally 0 work from office jobs exist any more. They just went extinct. The idea of…

Explain why you think people is slacking, please?

I can’t say why. But work seems to have no “gravity”.

Like in my brother’s government job, coming into office was a given. You could have serious career repercussions if you were slacking off.

Then the lockdown happened and work moved online. Everyone was slacking off, including the managers.

Now they’ve got in-office mandates again but some of the workers just don’t come in when they don’t fee like it and just log in from home. And no one seems to care or even mind.

Work has started feeling optional, not essential.

Re: UK inflation forecast to hit 18.6% next year, energy bills may rise to £6000

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this matches how I feel. The world was just very different pre-2020. It's all just gone phone call nonsense. Everyone is slacking off, productivity is through the floor, endless queues for everything, shortages, public transport use way down, etc. I haven't even had a proper full time job since then because as far as I can tell literally 0 work from office jobs exist any more. They just went extinct. The idea of…

Explain why you think people is slacking, please?

General attitude is obvious, people just don't care as much about their jobs as they used to.

The WFH thing is an example - people have started to treat going to work as some sort of optional annoyance.

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