Shameless labour

michaels

You don't think the reason people are not spending is because incomes are not increasing whereas the prices of essentials are and thus taking a larger share of income, and credit is not available to allow consumption on non-essentials to continue at previous levels?

shortchanged wrote: »

I think the tories biggest flaw was their doom and gloom message they portrayed before and after the election.
Yes this country was in a financial mess but so were a large proportion of the rest of the countries in the world. The UK was not on its own in all this mess.

All the tories managed to do was to instill a feeling of fear into most of the public thereby denting their confidence, resulting in people tightening their belts and not spending which is not what we need right now.

The UK will see a double dip recession this year.

shortchanged_2

michaels wrote: »

You don't think the reason people are not spending is because incomes are not increasing whereas the prices of essentials are and thus taking a larger share of income, and credit is not available to allow consumption on non-essentials to continue at previous levels?

Yes of course that has a lot to do with it, but what I am saying is that the tories dented any glimmer of confidence in the economy with their negative spin. It was bound to put the bejesus up people and install a fear factor resulting in a reduction in spending even BEFORE the austerity measures actually come into force.

Flyboy152

Wookster wrote: »

Government spending is not the magic panacea for all our woes. Repaying debt, rebuilding the private sector & becoming competitive on the world market are.

Rebuilding the private sector???? Why is it government's responsibility to do that? Surely, as we are being constantly told, that government should butt out of the private sector and leave it alone.

Flyboy152

mbga9pgf wrote: »

You really are quite dumb arent you love?

Hope you are enjoying life off benefits.

mbga9pgf wrote: »

Typical politics of envy from those without the grit to earn it themselves.

Now there is a poster who has a chip on their shoulder. Nothing to add, yet wants to insult and berate people, hardly the most effective debating technique, is it.

Flyboy152

angrypirate wrote: »

200bn pounds printed, 160 billion borrowed in one year and all labour could manage was 1.1% growth? Thats a total of 360 billion pounds added to the economy by labour and the return is a lousey 1.1% growth. Surely that shows just how much of a bust labour got us in.

Oh and by the way, that 360 billion pounds that sooner or later will have to be removed from the economy.

What would have been the result if they had taken the Tory's advice and done nothing?

Sir_Humphrey

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Rebuilding the private sector???? Why is it government's responsibility to do that?

Because most voters think it is.

Not a difficult concept, democracy.

Flyboy152

DervProf wrote: »

So, the country spent over a decade giving the credit card a bit of a hammering. The balance kept growing, the interest kept increasing. Eventually a fairly nasty letter dropped on the doormat.

So, the tories/lib dems said "enough of this, it's time to start paying back some of this debt, or at least reduce the spending on the credit card". No more "little treats", no more expensive foreign holidays or meals in expensive restaurants. Of course people are going to complain, and blame it on the new government. For labour to say that they could have solved this problem with little or no pain is absolute rubbish IMHO.

OK, the manner in which this government are tackling the problem is up for debate, but for labour to start blaming the government for slower or no econimic growth is ridiculous. Well, it isn't really, I suppose. If you stop maxing out the credit card, you're bound to see a big change in your lifestyle.

When did they say that?

Flyboy152

IronWolf wrote: »

Labour can't take credit for huge growth, particularly in financial services. If I remember correctly, it was the CONSERVATIVES who restructured the economy towards financial services, and transformed it from a stagnating farce into one of growth.

And look what happened when Labour got in charge, they just rode the FS industry, didnt care about how it was making its money "on paper" and the huge black holes that were hidden on balance sheets using flawed predictions.

As always, the Tories do things in the long term interest of the country, at the price of the present, and Labour just live in the now, and take credit for the long term Tory policies that pay off.

So, it was the Tories that created the culture of the huge financial service's excesses, but it was Labour's fault for not stopping it? That's a bit like a bank robber saying, "I robbed the bank, because there was no guards on duty."

1984ReturnsForReal_2

mbga9pgf wrote: »

Typical politics of envy from those without the grit to earn it themselves.

Earn what?

The initial poster said the economy was funded by debt. Therefore, following the posters argument, the money earned by a majority of business in the UK is in fact that debt.

Nothing to do with envy & more to do with the realisation of where the money in everyones pockets came from. Its a simple fact. Obviously too simple for some to grasp.

Wookster

shortchanged wrote: »

Yes of course that has a lot to do with it, but what I am saying is that the tories dented any glimmer of confidence in the economy with their negative spin. It was bound to put the bejesus up people and install a fear factor resulting in a reduction in spending even BEFORE the austerity measures actually come into force.

It all sounds a bit like that old saying, lord make me chaste, but just not yet. We've heard it all before and its like an addict talking about their 'last' hit.

Truth is there is no more money to spend and that's why people aren't spending. We've had the parry and got drunk and now the hangover commences.

Where the tories are failing is to communicate their messages and make a case for rebalancing the economy. Labour is definitely doing a better job at dealing with the media, perhaps because their is a general reluctance amongst the population that we do actually need to live within our means at some point. We also need to see several more growth initiatives than we have.