It's all kicking off again

Thrugelmir

Conrad wrote: »

+ Best car manufacturing numbers since 1975

Over 50% of the value of a car manufactured in the UK consists of imported parts.

Far higher than any other European country.

John_Pierpoint

Meanwhile, a shortfall on financial transactions with the rest of the world, as foreign companies made more on their investments here than UK plc banked from foreign ventures, meant the deficit on Britain's income account in the quarter, at £5.2bn, was also the largest ever, adding to the current account deficit.

Is it really surprising that as so much of Britain has been sold off to foreigners, the profits are being creamed off ?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/27/uk-gdp-economy-data-second-quarter?newsfeed=true

Meanwhile over the pond:

Romney and his vice-presidential pick Paul Ryan have hammered Obama's record on debt. "When he came into office, there was just over $10tn in debt. Now there's over $16tn in debt. If he were re-elected, I can assure you it will be almost $20tn in debt," Romney told voters in Ohio last week. "And by the way, those debts get passed on to our kids. It's not just bad for the economy; it's not just bad for our job creation; it will … in my opinion, it is immoral for us to pass on obligations like that to the next generation."

It has always amazed me, the way the dollar, as the world's reserve currency, has enabled USA to live subsidised at the expense of the rest of the world for years.

Mr_Matey

nollag2006 wrote: »

"Location location location" is back on the telly.
:beer:

Hooray!:beer:

Loughton_Monkey

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Over 50% of the value of a car manufactured in the UK consists of imported parts.

Far higher than any other European country.

And any profits go back to Japan, India, Germany, USA, etc.

So better than a slap round the face with a wet fish, but not much good for UK Plc.

Mr._Pricklepants

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Over 50% of the value of a car manufactured in the UK consists of imported parts.

Far higher than any other European country.

So what? We all know we don't have a metal industry to support car manufacturing anymore and we shouldn't be competing with low wage nations for the production of various low tech/low cost items.
Main thing is the assembly is done here, decent jobs, with decent wages being paid into the UK economy.

Good article in the Telegraph:

How Britain won the global car war.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/jeremy-warner/9468981/How-Britain-won-the-global-car-war.html

John_Pierpoint

I am always surprised by how little assembly plant workers get paid.

A long way from my youth in the 1960s. I turned down jobs in the local labour exchange to be greeted by "Where do you think you are living - Coventry?".

Coventry was reputed to pay £50 a week - the best I could manage in the London home counties, when freshly back from earning that sort of money in Canada, was roughly £20 a weeks for a 10 hour 5.5 day week.

Heathrow airport was reputed to pay £15 for leaning on a broom.

nollag2006

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

I am always surprised by how little assembly plant workers get paid.

A long way from my youth in the 1960s. I turned down jobs in the local labour exchange to be greeted by "Where do you think you are living - Coventry?".

Coventry was reputed to pay £50 a week - the best I could manage in the London home counties, when freshly back from earning that sort of money in Canada, was roughly £20 a weeks for a 10 hour 5.5 day week.

Heathrow airport was reputed to pay £15 for leaning on a broom.

£15?? They were lucky

Reminds me of the Monty Python sketch...

I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."

John_Pierpoint

It rather illustrates the probable future for those being compulsorily enrolled in the new pension arrangements.

My "graduated payments" are now worth about 5/- ( five bob) a week.

Thrugelmir

Mr._Pricklepants wrote: »

So what? We all know we don't have a metal industry to support car manufacturing anymore and we shouldn't be competing with low wage nations for the production of various low tech/low cost items.

Components include a multitude of items other than metal. Electronics, glass, rubber etc. So that's a little derogatory. Once these low wage nations gain the quality assembly skills then why keep future investment in the UK?

The UK can only afford a negative outflow on the balance of trade of 8% for so long. Means we are getting poorer.