Is the BBC Avoiding Critical Topics Like U.K Bankruptcy?

setmefree2

chrisweb wrote: »

Maybe they would throw out a government that managed the economy so badly that they started to allow a bubble to develop and allowed such crazy practices as all the credit default swaps and sub-prime loans.

And you Tories would have done things differently?

mymatebob

chrisweb wrote: »

Maybe they would throw out a government that managed the economy so badly that they started to allow a bubble to develop and allowed such crazy practices as all the credit default swaps and sub-prime loans.

And in the interim they still need homes and some of these properties will have lost value so they will be in negative equity. So how do you prevent that?

harryhound

dealsearcher wrote: »

The fact is we are doing ourselves down in Britain. The eurozone economy is also in bad shape, but the euro is remaing strong - why? The eurozone governments are minimizing their problems. In fact they are telling us they are having temporary difficulties. Hence the euro is remaining strong and we are hearing much less about their difficulties. In contrast Mervyn King broadcasts that we are in 'deep recession' and the media goes on a feeding frenzy about our banks collapsing and the economy being in dire straits.

Yes we should deal with Gordon Brown and his refusal to accept any responsibility but we should not do ourselves down to the extent that it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

The Euro is doing well because it is the only realistic reserve currency alternative to the USD.
There is less evidence of "Quantitive Easing" in the Euro zone.

How much money would you be prepared to lend to UK Plc, if you lived in the Gulf of Arabia? What interest rate would you expect?

baileysbattlebus

harryhound wrote: »

The Euro is doing well because it is the only realistic reserve currency alternative to the USD.
There is less evidence of "Quantitive Easing" in the Euro zone.

How much money would you be prepared to lend to UK Plc, if you lived in the Gulf of Arabia? What interest rate would you expect?

What will happen to the Euro if Ireland's problems get any worse than they are now? Or Greece or Italy?

"If Ireland continues hurtling down this road, which is close to default, the whole of Europe will be badly affected. The credibility of the euro will be badly affected. Then Spain might default, Italy and Greece," he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/globalbusiness/4285331/Help-Ireland-or-it-will-exit-euro-economist-warns.html

tomstickland

Since I started taking an interest in the bbc's news coverage I've noticed several instances that could be regarded as bias.
The Glenrothes bye election was a classic - the story was buried 3 pages in until the surprise win and then it was front page.

dealsearcher

setmefree2 wrote: »

And you Tories would have done things differently?

I do hate it when we are in real difficulties, when we need to pull together and yet some will always point the finger. How is that kind of comment going to help?

Why can't the government and Gordon Brown just tells us what they are going to do and not always come up with: 'well you wouldn't have done any better'. They are in government the Tories are not.

tomstickland

setmefree2 wrote: »

1)Our trade deficit is shrinking

More expensive imports will do that, but that doesn't mean that it'll reach zero.

2) Our levels of government debt are better than most other economys.
Not if you include PFI. If you add in personal debt then we're in the worst position.

3) Economys with large numbers of savers such as Japan and Germany are worse off than us.
So borrowing is the key?

5) A weak currency has helped increase our exports - see 1- trade deficit is shrinking.
But it's not good news really, it's just an illusion powered by the weak currency.

chrisweb

setmefree2 wrote: »

1)Our trade deficit is shringing
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7291521.stm

Still pretty big.

2) Our levels of government debt are better than most other economys.

Got a link to a source.
Look at third from bottom:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_current_account_balance

Now of course that paints a worse picture as it doesn't take into account the size of the economy. But still not good and also way outdated as does not include the £900,000,000 bank bailout obligations.

Furthermore, economys with less debt than the UK are in a worse sitaution than us in regards to falls in GDP and unemployment.

Yeah I agree. But I'm not really interested in a competition to be the worst. Also I think the a GDP prodded up by debt like we have in the U.K and U.S is not healthy.

3) Economys with large numbers of savers such as Japan and Germany are worse off than us.

An economy that builds stuff will undoubtedly feel a harder drop in unemployment. An economy which spends stuff (one with a large service industry) will be less effected by a drop in manufacturing. That doesn't mean it is healthier or its bank balances are better. The countries which build more can shift to a more service based economy more quickly than you can to a manufacturing based economy. Also the people in savers economies have savings to spend in a service sector whereas in UK they do not as they are riddled with debt.

So they'll be hit harder in the short term, but longer term they are in a much stronger position.

4) Everyone is suffering from falls in tax revenue

A country with less debt burdens and more exports (i.e more income) has less to worry about in this situation.

5) A weak currency has helped increase our exports see 1 trade deficit is shrinking.

Its also pushed our local prices up and reduced our purchasing power. That said the currency situation is so overwhelmingly complicated so its hard to draw conclusions.
Money supply is dropping as debts go bad but Government is printing just as fast. Are the other economies having more debts go bad and destroying more of the money supply causing their currency to strengthen? Are foreign investors buying up U.K assets? Generally I find it hard to tell but my gut instinct is a falling currency is not a good thing. If the U.K needs to make its money worth less to help exports that is a dire dire situation indeed.

You do want to beat our economy down and furthermore you don't know what you're talking about.

No need. Just cause someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean you have to insult them.

StevieJ

chrisweb wrote: »

Maybe they would throw out a government that managed the economy so badly that they started to allow a bubble to develop and allowed such crazy practices as all the credit default swaps and sub-prime loans.

Don't make me have to find that Redwood quote again You will see enough of that at the next election.

chrisweb

mymatebob wrote: »

And in the interim they still need homes and some of these properties will have lost value so they will be in negative equity. So how do you prevent that?

You can't prevent fluctuations in the market, so yes some may get a small amount of negative equity - but the point is it is small and manageable.

What you wouldn't get is of course a big bubble bursting and see massive price drops. That is what would be prevented if people were more educated.

I strongly stand that an educated population is by far better able to make decisions and steer their government and economy in a better direction. Right now I feel the BBC is dumbing stuff down so much (as it did during the boom) and not providing balanced opinions of the crisis or covering key critical topics with the scrutiny they require.

If people were more educated in the first place they could have prevented this. If the government is making more bad decisions, just like they did for the past decade, then an educated population could put a stop to it, or at least prepare themselves.

I still believe strongly that people should be more educated about this and the media has a strong responsibility to ensure this happens.