Brexit, the economy and house prices part 5

tracey3596

BobQ wrote: »

Why are people incapable of considering the issue (what Blair says about Brexit) rather than just demonstrating their dislike of the messenger. This thread is about BREXIT not about what Labour did or did not do 15 years ago.

Although I agree with your sentiment why are you only asking this now and of that poster?
Countless posts in this thread alone contain little more than attempts at decrying "the messenger" and are obviously from "people incapable of considering the issue", yet you have not equally berated them for such behaviour.
Would you like to try and explain why that is?

tracey3596

London is still by far the top destination in Europe for new tech funding.

London was the top city in Europe for technology investment last year, with more funding going into companies in the British capital than into firms based in Paris, Berlin and the next seven cities combined, data showed on Friday.

“It’s a testament to our exceptional entrepreneurs that the UK tech sector continues to produce companies that are leading in the development of cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and fintech,”

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-technology-venture-capital/london-was-top-destination-for-tech-funding-in-2017-pitchbook-idUKKBN1EU019?il=0

BobQ

tracey3596 wrote: »

Although I agree with your sentiment why are you only asking this now and of that poster?
Countless posts in this thread alone contain little more than attempts at decrying "the messenger" and are obviously from "people incapable of considering the issue", yet you have not equally berated them for such behaviour.
Would you like to try and explain why that is?

I made the point when I posted the message

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=73663934&postcount=3816

I can just about understand off the cuff remarks to attack the massager, but the one I commented on above had actually researched his prejudices.

It seems that there is a legion of people that are just waiting for the Blair word to unload their bile. I suspect that if Blair saved someone's life they would say it was a publicity stunt.

My original comment was about what Blair had said on Brexit. I think he makes a good argument about the dilemma we face in relation to the Irish border and the customs union.

BobQ

tracey3596 wrote: »

London is still by far the top destination in Europe for new tech funding.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-technology-venture-capital/london-was-top-destination-for-tech-funding-in-2017-pitchbook-idUKKBN1EU019?il=0

Encouraging I agree but we need to adopt such technology across the UK not just in London.

The following suggests the UK is lagging behind in the adoption of Fintech, AI and Robotics (clearly the Pitchbook data Reuters quote is largely about the financial sectors.)

The impact of AI and robotics on workers will be largely determined by the choices we make as investors, employers, educators, consumers and policymakers. Yet these choices will be irrelevant unless the UK accelerates its take up of AI and robotics. Our RSA/YouGov poll of UK business leaders finds that just 14 percent are currently investing in this technology or plan to in the near future. 20 percent want to invest but say it will take a significant amount of time to do so, while 39 percent believe the technology is too costly or not yet proven. Data from other sources indicates a similar picture. The International Federation of Robotics shows that sales of industrial robots fell in the period between 2014 and 2015, with the UK purchasing fewer robots than France, the US, Germany, Spain and Italy. While this may reflect our different sectoral make-up, UK businesses and public services as a whole suffer from stubbornly low rates of investment. Data from the World Bank shows the proportion of UK GDP accounted for by gross fixed capital formation (a measure of investment) has fallen by 7 percentage points since 1990.

Herzlos

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

And one of the unfortunate results of that is many people don't value the services they get, resulting in a tremendous waste of money and clogging up of the system through big issues such as the 'worried well' and a BILLION £ a year of missed appointments.

We've got people stuck in ambulances for hours waiting for treatment at the moment, and we also wasted a BILLION £ last year on people no-showing to doctors appointments.

That can't possibly be the most efficient way of doing things....

They need to hire a triage nurse for each practice to weed out the time wasters, might cost a bit more but will easily knock gp waiting lists down by half.

BobQ

tracey3596 wrote: »

Quite so.

The amount of unnecessary visits too is little short of shocking. If (as the Telegraph says on Jan 2nd) "NHS England said that in 2016/17, more than nine million people were sent home from A&E after only getting advice" then how many more are only needing the most basic first aid of a sticking plaster or similar that most of us would do in our own homes?

Fair point, Its partly a cultural issue that needs to be changed and partly the difficulty of getting help out of hours. But we should also remember that some people simply need reassurance that their problem is not something to worry about.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Herzlos wrote: »

They need to hire a triage nurse for each practice to weed out the time wasters, might cost a bit more but will easily knock gp waiting lists down by half.

One of my oldest friends is a GP, he reckons around 40% of patients presenting at the surgery (the cough and cold brigade) do not need to see a doctor as a pharmacist would have been able to offer all the care they required, another 10% (cramps and sprains) could be adequately seen by a nurse, and another 20% are basically time-wasters... lonely, bored, the 'worried well' or outright hypochondriacs.

His main frustration is the remaining 30%, who do need to see a GP and some of them will be complex and potentially serious cases, are having precious time and resources taken away from them by the 70% of people clogging up the system who really shouldn't be.

The only way we'll ever fix this mess is to start charging for time wasting in some way, shape or form.

kabayiri

BobQ wrote: »

...
The following suggests the UK is lagging behind in the adoption of Fintech, AI and Robotics (clearly the Pitchbook data Reuters quote is largely about the financial sectors.)

Why worry about this now? I suggest it is faux concern at best.

I have made the case for AI and robotics and advanced automation for over 3 decades.

I have lost count how many times people in the past told me that things like advanced manufacturing were "low grade" and unworthy of our focus. "It will never return", they said.

Instead, idiots like Brown preferred to unveil plaques in honour of the almighty banking sector - an industry inventing products out of almost thin air; a bubble which just begged to be burst.

So don't give me all this flake interest in R&D now. My Chinese professor mate is confident that they will continue to invest more than either UK or EU will do over the coming decades.

We seem more worried about protecting EU workers to come pick our turnips and clean toilets. (Oh, and flog over priced houses to each other).

It's no wonder that rich Chinese and Indian and other foreign people are hoovering up whatever key assets they are allowed to buy. They don't want the dregs.

Thrugelmir

kabayiri wrote: »

It's no wonder that rich Chinese and Indian and other foreign people are hoovering up whatever key assets they are allowed to buy. They don't want the dregs.

Chinese were hoovering up commodity companies 50 years ago. Different mentality. Long term view.

buglawton

Herzlos wrote: »

They need to hire a triage nurse for each practice to weed out the time wasters, might cost a bit more but will easily knock gp waiting lists down by half.

A workmate has had a cough for a month but has been deflected from getting any tests by the surgerys nurse. I'm not sure that's right.