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Do you support the BBC industrial action today?
Comments
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Sorry, I should have been clear that I have no idea who this dude is or how much he knows about economics. I was just saying that, theoretically, he could know a great deal about economics, could fully understand that the BBC pension situation is unsustainable but then still decide that he wanted to strike for personal (or indeed selfish) reasons.
That's stretching charity beyond breaking point. In the light of what I posted about his political inclinations, it is pretty clear he would be the first on the barricades.
As to your comments about B-BBC, I did say there were nutcases there (here too, come to that).
Nonetheless, unless you go there with a mind as closed as a bear trap, it is hard not wince as they produce example after example of cast iron evidence - some of the most damning being the recent tweets from BBC staff too stupid to have realised that Twitter is as public a medium as their own beloved Beeb.0 -
I agree with you that all news agencies are correct to report on spending cuts, and this is and should be the main story. However, it would be nice, just once or twice, to put the cuts in context and to give a wider view. Even with the huge spending cuts, total government spending is continuing to increase at an alarming rate.
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I thought the Tory plan was to remove the structural deficit within this parliament? so how do they do that with spending increasing at an 'alarming rate' ?'Just think for a moment what a prospect that is. A single market without barriers visible or invisible giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of over 300 million of the worlds wealthiest and most prosperous people' Margaret Thatcher0 -
I thought the Tory plan was to remove the structural deficit within this parliament? so how do they do that with spending increasing at an 'alarming rate' ?
They won't eliminate the total deficit this Parliament, even if they could stick to their spending plans, which I seriously doubt they will be able to do. Even under the plan set out in the Emergency Budget in June, UK plc is not back in surplus in 2015. Unlike the 1980s, we don't have the luxury of lots of state assets that we can sell (excepting RBS and Lloyds) or North Sea Oil to fill the chasm.
The Government has 'ring fenced' two major spending areas against cuts (health and education). I don't imagine they will continue to keep tight control of spending in any other area either as we approach the next election, say within the last 2 years running up to the poll, assuming they can hold things together until then, which I also doubt.
Total debt will continue to grow. It's a vicious cycle - interest compounds on interest. Taxes go up so businesses are less willing to invest in the UK and wealthy people make more efforts to avoid tax (the Laffer curve). As you raise tax rates above a certain point you raise less in revenue.
Basically UK plc is in a complete mess and I see very little way out. And please don't suggest the Balls approach that we can spend our way out of this. I don't believe we can.
We will be lucky to get back into surplus within two Parliaments at the rate things are going, and if Labour get back in, which I admit is quite possible, we will never pay off the debt and the most likely outcome will be a default on our debts and an Irish situation.
What the Government seem to be doing is relying on inflation to reduce the real value of the debt. This is a valid approach, but it is very hard on those with fixed incomes and who rely on savings. So basically, the plan is to make all of the people who have been prudent, worked hard and saved all their lives pay for all those who haven't, in the meantime leaving a massive debt for future generations to deal with. It's morally bankrupt even if it manages to avoid financial bankruptcy (or default as it's called in macro economic terminology).
The Bank of England is showing very little sign of taking the 2% CPI target seriously, further quantitative easing, an increase to VAT and lack of any increase in base rates is a very dangerous gamble. Hyper inflation is a nightmare which will make the current crisis look like a birthday present.
Economies go in cycles. They always have and they always will. The most serious mistake that Brown and Balls made (and they made many) was to deny the economic reality of cyclical economies. They really did believe they had put an end to boom and bust and spent accordingly meaning that we were very unprepared to handle the crisis which they caused.
And now for the good news.....0 -
They won't eliminate the total deficit this Parliament, even if they could stick to their spending plans, which I seriously doubt they will be able to do. Even under the plan set out in the Emergency Budget in June, UK plc is not back in surplus in 2015. Unlike the 1980s, we don't have the luxury of lots of state assets that we can sell (excepting RBS and Lloyds) or North Sea Oil to fill the chasm.
The Government has 'ring fenced' two major spending areas against cuts (health and education). I don't imagine they will continue to keep tight control of spending in any other area either as we approach the next election, say within the last 2 years running up to the poll, assuming they can hold things together until then, which I also doubt.
Total debt will continue to grow. It's a vicious cycle - interest compounds on interest. Taxes go up so businesses are less willing to invest in the UK and wealthy people make more efforts to avoid tax (the Laffer curve). As you raise tax rates above a certain point you raise less in revenue.
Basically UK plc is in a complete mess and I see very little way out. And please don't suggest the Balls approach that we can spend our way out of this. I don't believe we can.
We will be lucky to get back into surplus within two Parliaments at the rate things are going, and if Labour get back in, which I admit is quite possible, we will never pay off the debt and the most likely outcome will be a default on our debts and an Irish situation.
What the Government seem to be doing is relying on inflation to reduce the real value of the debt. This is a valid approach, but it is very hard on those with fixed incomes and who rely on savings. So basically, the plan is to make all of the people who have been prudent, worked hard and saved all their lives pay for all those who haven't, in the meantime leaving a massive debt for future generations to deal with. It's morally bankrupt even if it manages to avoid financial bankruptcy (or default as it's called in macro economic terminology).
The Bank of England is showing very little sign of taking the 2% CPI target seriously, further quantitative easing, an increase to VAT and lack of any increase in base rates is a very dangerous gamble. Hyper inflation is a nightmare which will make the current crisis look like a birthday present.
Economies go in cycles. They always have and they always will. The most serious mistake that Brown and Balls made (and they made many) was to deny the economic reality of cyclical economies. They really did believe they had put an end to boom and bust and spent accordingly meaning that we were very unprepared to handle the crisis which they caused.
And now for the good news.....
Yes please?0 -
Back to house prices, I'm sure those 331 managers are not renting...
331 manager paid over £100,000, excluding the "talent". The BBC sometimes is its own worst enemy.
Some of their output is excellent, but they let themselves down in so many areas that sympathy is in short supply in the current climate.
It is also unlikely that they are on strike over their pensions, so probably don't need sympathy.0 -
What the Government seem to be doing is relying on inflation to reduce the real value of the debt. This is a valid approach, but it is very hard on those with fixed incomes and who rely on savings. So basically, the plan is to make all of the people who have been prudent, worked hard and saved all their lives pay for all those who haven't, in the meantime leaving a massive debt for future generations to deal with. It's morally bankrupt even if it manages to avoid financial bankruptcy (or default as it's called in macro economic terminology).
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You can't have it both ways, either inflation erodes the debt (in real terms) or it doesn't.'Just think for a moment what a prospect that is. A single market without barriers visible or invisible giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of over 300 million of the worlds wealthiest and most prosperous people' Margaret Thatcher0 -
You can't have it both ways, either inflation erodes the debt (in real terms) or it doesn't.
Inflation will erode the real value of debt, but doesn't go the whole way, unless of course we end up with hyper inflation. On top of that, Gordon Brown thought it would be a good idea to issue quite a lot of index linked gilts so these won't be affected.
Inflation is not going to help if we keep on spending more than we receive. So I can have it both ways in that respect. You see, inflation erodes the real value of debt but the annual deficit keeps adding to the debt.
IMO the only way to sort the problem out properly is to get the budget back into balance.0 -
Sort of don't care...0
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Radiantsoul wrote: »Sort of don't care...
About the BBC?0
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