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Do you think we could have avoided recession if the Tories were in power?
Comments
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amcluesent wrote: »>And that's just fuelled further by the talk of scorched-earth policies<
There's ample evidence that Clown always set-out to pauperise the English middle-class and engineer a huge transfer of assets, via the State, to the idle and f.eckless in Wales, Scotland, the NE and NW.
Despite knowing this only too well (Dorset being the worst suffering county in terms of the redistribution of funds) I don't think that constitutes scorched earth - it's a policy that has genuinely good intentions (even if it's flawed). Scorched earth is where the primary purpose is to destroy the "inheritance", and so milk the lag in electoral cycles by showing the new gov to be rubbish.0 -
An interesting thread. He's a scenario for you - the Tories had been in power for most of the last decade.
1. They deregulated the city even further than Brown did, actioning all those speeches they made and making all their banking friends happy (the ones who fund the party).
2. They spent less than Brown did. A point to make is that Clarke had no intention of sticking to his own post-97 spending plans, so the massive pay-down of debt pre-2003 may not have happened on the same scale in a Tory government scenario. This is then balanced off by less public spending.
3. Unemployment is higher (lower public spending), interest rates are politically manipulated, inflation is higher.
So, we enter the recession with an even bigger liability due to the banks being allowed to go even further than they have in the real world. We have lower debt - but not much lower due to higher benefits costs, lower tax takes via tax cuts.
We then see the Tories uniquely not throwing cash on the fire and the UK crashes faster than anyone else.
In what way would that have us better off?0 -
Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »An interesting thread. He's a scenario for you - the Tories had been in power for most of the last decade.
1. They deregulated the city even further than Brown did, actioning all those speeches they madeand making all their banking friends happy (the ones who fund the party).
2. They spent less than Brown did.A point to make is that Clarke had no intention of sticking to his own post-97 spending plans,so the massive pay-down of debt pre-2003 may not have happened on the same scale in a Tory government scenario.This is then balanced off by less public spending.3. Unemployment is higher (lower public spending),interest rates are politically manipulated, inflation is higher.So, we enter the recession with an even bigger liability due to the banks being allowed to go even further than they have in the real world.We have lower debt - but not much lower due to higher benefits costs,lower tax takes via tax cuts.We then see the Tories uniquely not throwing cash on the fire and the UK crashes faster than anyone else.
* Nick's pet theory - all this interference "for the sake of the people" (whether economic, legal or political) actually concentrates power with the insiders to the exclusion of the many. It suppresses the power of the market (the invisible hand - in any of those spheres) to respond to imbalances, and allows the insiders to milk the system. At huge democratic cost.0 -
This just shows your complete ignorance of the situation we are now in. I don't think you understand the cause of the problem we are in now or the route out.
I'm completely ignorant 'cos I don't agree with the sheeple on HPC that Vince Cable is a God?
Anyone who is a great person would want to be a leader and would want to lead a party who wanted power. The liberals can say what they please 'cos they just want to play at politics they don't actually want to get their hands dirty.If you keep doing what you've always done - you will keep getting what you've always got.0 -
I'm completely ignorant 'cos I don't agree with the sheeple on HPC that Vince cable is a God?
Anyone who is a great person would want to be a leader and would want to lead a party who wanted power. The liberals can say what they please 'cos they just want to play at politics they don't actually want to get their hands dirty.
Hear, hear.
I love agreeing with members of the labour party as to how bad the LDs are. It's almost as much fun as agreeing with the shameless members of the LD party as to how bad they are.
And I feel bad about the "right to have nuclear weapons" comment.0 -
For two reasons:
1. The UK doesn't produce much stuff that other people want (hence the enormous trade deficit)
2. The pound is perceived to be one of the more risky currencies
More rubbish. Why don't you find another country to live in if you think the UK is so crap? You obviously feel little love for Britain and I personally find it offensive and wonder why you stay here?
If our economy is so awful how come we have the 5th biggest economy in the world by GDP despite the fact that we are a very very small Island?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)If you keep doing what you've always done - you will keep getting what you've always got.0 -
More rubbish. Why don't you find another country to live in if you think the UK is so crap? You obviously feel little love for Britain and I personally find it offensive and wonder why you stay here?
Emigrating on the basis that manufactoring is down and the pound is a bit shaky would be a bit extreme woudln't it?
I don't really like roast dinners and don't have much time for monicals, but I'm not upping sticks and sodding off to Dubai.0 -
More rubbish. Why don't you find another country to live in if you think the UK is so crap? You obviously feel little love for Britain and I personally find it offensive and wonder why you stay here?
If our economy is so awful how come we have the 5th biggest economy in the world by GDP despite the fact that we are a very small Island?
It's hardly 'loving Britain' to refuse to face the facts.
How would we ever improve things if we didn't acknowledge problems?0 -
It's hardly 'loving Britain' to refuse to face the facts.
How would we ever improve things if we didn't acknowledge problems?
Excuse me? What's factual about
1. The UK doesn't produce much stuff that other people want (hence the enormous trade deficit) So how come we have the 5th biggest economy in the world or is Wookster just ignorant about what the UK produce?
2. The pound is perceived to be one of the more risky currencies. Compared to what? - the Zimababwean dollar, the rouble, the zloty, the krona?
It's one thing to identify problems, quite another to run dowm Britain just for the sake of it:rolleyes:If you keep doing what you've always done - you will keep getting what you've always got.0 -
"]Excuse me? What's factual about
1. The UK doesn't produce much stuff that other people want (hence the enormous trade deficit) So how come we have the 5th biggest economy in the world or is Wookster just ignorant about what the UK produce?"
I'm afraid he's quite right. The UK was (is) heavily reliant on the service sector - banking for example. We have been running a massive trade deficit for years and its going to get worse. Wookster isn't being ignorant. He's just sticking to the facts.
"2. The pound is perceived to be one of the more risky currencies. Compared to what? - the Zimababwean dollar, the rouble, the zloty, the krona?"
The ones that matter - like the US Dollar and the Euro. Hence the drop in value against them.
"It's one thing to identify problems, quite another to run dowm Britain just for the sake of it:rolleyes:"
And it's yet another to believe what you wish to believe, despite the evidence.0
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