How Will the National Debt be Paid Off?

CLAPTON

Wookster wrote: »

I don't think there is a credible plan at all. Labour totally fail to see the problem with debt, it is utterly inconceivable that Labour would ever run a budget surplus.

The cost cutting that would need to be undertaken to realise a budget surplus are enormous and probably undeliverable for many years.

Public finances are in a real really desperate pickle.

but they did............. run a budget surplus

Generali

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

The debt won't be paid off completely - no nation is debt free.

China is. Australia was until recently. Norway is. Singapore is (I think). Saudi Arabia is. I think Oman is. I'm pretty sure Russia is.

Rochdale_Pioneers

CLAPTON wrote: »

but they did............. run a budget surplus

Not on planet Wookster, which is why he can't see it.

Wookster

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

Not on planet Wookster, which is why he can't see it.

We will all look back on those 2-3 years as the golden years of the Labour government.

The rest was a credit induced party.

A_fiend_for_life

This one gives 'external debt' 2008:

http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?t=0&v=94&r=xx&l=en

Rochdale_Pioneers

Wookster wrote: »

We will all look back on those 2-3 years as the golden years of the Labour government.

The rest was a credit induced party.

But I thought you said it was "utterly inconceivable" for such a thing to happen? Could it be that you were talking out of your bottom? Again?

kennyboy66_2

Generali wrote: »

China is. Australia was until recently. Norway is. Singapore is (I think). Saudi Arabia is. I think Oman is. I'm pretty sure Russia is.

I find it a slightly odd obsession that some people have in "paying the national debt off".

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/sn.html

Singapore certainly doesn't.

If we had a population the size of Norway, we too could have used North Sea oil revenues to establish a sovereign wealth fund.

Saudia Arabia, Russia, China - I'd take a country with spiralling government debt than any of those 3 - wouldn't you ?

CLAPTON

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

This one gives 'external debt' 2008:

http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?t=0&v=94&r=xx&l=en

Very interesting figures..

It does remind me of course that these only refer to debts and the issue of assets owed (and bought by these debts ) is not included.

Bit like looking at a company's balance sheet and seeing that (e.g) Shell has enormously higher debts (liabilities) than the corner shop. Should one be appalled?

A_fiend_for_life

Not at all it's the ability of the business / country to service it's debts. I suspect absolute values tell you little without considering GDP / public investment / turnover/ profitability etc. I'm neither in business nor an economist so I don't have all the meaures / indicators to hand.:o

RabbitMad

iltisman wrote: »

How about standing our military down and someone will invade us,then it becomes their problem.

Nope - your going about this all wrong. We build our military up and invade somewhere weak but with lots of natural resources or money.

I say we invade switzerland 1st. They don't have much of an arm but have plenty of cash, gold and cuokoo clocks