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Question time
Comments
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Do you know if that is still on iPlayer?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b017snpq/HARDtalk_Mohamed_ElErian_Chief_Executive_Officer_PIMCO/
Haven't seen it all yet."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
chewmylegoff wrote: »is JSA really a massive problem which disincentivises the young to work?
Its a disincentive for the small minority who have no interest in working.
For the majority the disincentive to work is the lack of available jobs. Regardless of your views on immigrant labour and your assumptions on which jobs that labour may be filling, there is a severe shortage of jobs at the moment in large parts of the country. All cutting JSA is going to do is increase destitution and crime, neither of which have positive effects on economic growth. Nor will they encourage employers to employ more people as the hit on confidence you get from mass unemployment gives them the view that people will spend less.
There is this perception that the minimum wage - and now from Wookster JSA - artificially inflates wages thus crushing job creation. And yet the cost of living isn't going to miraculously fall if wages fall, so people either spend even less or nick or starve. We need confidence in the future and a race to the bottom won't create it.
Its a simple plan thats worked before. Mass unemployment lets you flog employees beyond breaking point for lower wages and worse conditions because of the fear that someone more desperate than you will do the job for less. It creates a buyers market for the employer where they get to make bumper profits by getting away with paying the absolute minimum in wages and benefits. Good for them, bad for the majority.0 -
grizzly1911 wrote: »Watched a snipit of Hard Talk later. Need to watch it though.
There was a Fund/Investement Manager form the States.
He "admitted" that the current capitalist model had gone out of control.
He likened it to taking the speed limits off a motorway, with no other safe guard, ends in misery.
Need to watch it though.
I use to watch Question Time - I have given up.
This Week is more informative and they aren't constantly trying to score points, oh and it has some humour too.
I can't quite give up on QT, it's awful though - and I have to watch This Week afterwards for the reasons you say, and to bring down my blood pressure (although Millionaire Billy Budd always manages to get my goat - well done to Michael Portillo last night for very gently taking him down).0 -
Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »Good for them, bad for the majority.
A very balanced argument, post shortened fro brevity.
Having now watched that Hard Talk through the guy also roughly said
"There is now the perception that the current position is unfair.
Leading up to 2008 gains were privatised post 2008 losses were socialised with the reasoning being that growth and employment would increase. That hasn't materialised."
Controlled capitalism with fair redistribution of gains OK, greed and profiteering at the expense of others bad?
In my mind it is the redistribution bit that is failing. Shame really because there are no pockets in shrouds."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
chewmylegoff wrote: »is JSA really a massive problem which disincentivises the young to work?
my albeit limited understanding of JSA is that the max you can claim is £50/week, and if you live at home with your parents and have never paid NIC, the total amount you can claim is £0. this understanding may be completely wrong of course.
i can see how if you manage to push out a couple of kids then benefits provide a complete disincentive to work at minimum wage levels, but i didn't think you were eligible for much at all as a young single person.
I cant comment on now, but in 2003. Single mum with 3 kids had about 180 pw to spend on energy, water, food etc.
So about 22k a year salary equivalent.
Would assume about 26-28k now.0 -
Definitely a lot of truth in that, but it doesn't take into account the fact that JSA in effect, sets the minimum wage and provides something of a dis-incentive for that segment of the population to work.
It may have a limited effect and yes there is an element of !!!!less youth and older.
Simply there are insufficient jobs, even less with real prospects and if you allow unfettered immigration then IMO you are importing a dole queue by bumping.
BTW appearing in Emmerdale really knocked your profile.;)"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
chewmylegoff wrote: »
was interesting when he started arguing that the cost of debt would not increase if we were borrowing and spending more "because we can set our own interest rates". i'm not sure if he understands that having control of our own fiscal policy doesn't mean that we get to choose what UK govt debt yields....nevermind. .
That was aimed at purposely confusing the audience, to try and make out Ken Clarke was talking nonsense.
I don't believe that he didn't know what he was on about. I think he knew he was purposely confusing the situation in the hope people would believe what he had to say.
What he was saying was true, we do control our own interest rates.
But it wasn't anything to do with what everyone else was talking about.0 -
I cant comment on now, but in 2003. Single mum with 3 kids had about 180 pw to spend on energy, water, food etc.
So about 22k a year salary equivalent.
Would assume about 26-28k now.
yes, but how many of the 20% of "young people" who are unemployed are single mothers with 3 children.
i'm pretty sure that the answer is 0, because they are not classified as unemployed in the figures.0 -
Graham_Devon wrote: »That was aimed at purposely confusing the audience, to try and make out Ken Clarke was talking nonsense.
I don't believe that he didn't know what he was on about. I think he knew he was purposely confusing the situation in the hope people would believe what he had to say.
What he was saying was true, we do control our own interest rates.
But it wasn't anything to do with what everyone else was talking about.
We do control our own interest rates.
That does not mean people have to take on our debt.0 -
Anyone else catch the bloke in the audience who said what we were all thinking....kind of a taboo area.
Was brilliant. No one actually answered the direct question on people from the EU finding 90% of the jobs. But the man made a very good point. Welfare makes our lot not want to take jobs.
Very awkward for the panel and some of the audience when someone stated exactly what most were thinking!!0
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