Incongruous 00:44 01-23-2009
seireikhaan 01:06 01-23-2009
Ok, so here's an interesting little thing I found when I tried to investigate further into this matter beyond a hysterical news article.
Behold.
This is why I'm highly skeptical of this claim that a government is "going broke". Indeed, the UK's total indebtedness as a percentage of the GDP is less than it was in the early nineties. Just calculating gross debt is pointless if one does not take into account how economically powerful a country is. A five trillion dollar debt for Tunisia would be much more harmful than a five trillion dollar debt for France. Indeed, one can even look at Japan, which has debt near or even well over 100 percent over the last decade. Yet, the country is hardly breaking apart at the seems or in danger of having the central government collapse.
So... in other words...
The more important thing for respective governments is to take proper steps to rejuvenating their economies.
InsaneApache 13:14 01-23-2009
rory_20_uk 17:30 01-23-2009
I do agree that the British Economy isn't yet ruined, but when the GDP is going to be decreasing, and the debt increasing, the percentage debt is going to increase pretty fast.
We're technically insolvent in that we can not pay off all debts if all were called in tomorrow - but that is true of almost all countries.
Rejeuvinating is the key, and here in the UK we're not great at making jobs that create wealth, rather just recycle it (so, increase the public workers, ignore manufacturing). Although funding education to 18, and masses going to 21 stangely we've not got a highly skilled workforce...
The tendrils of the state needs to be heavily pared back, along with lowering taxes. Better to do a few things well than a vast number badly.
Took a second, but... yeah.
Furunculus 23:04 01-24-2009
Originally Posted by Idaho:
Much as I dislike New Labour, I am loathe to blame them directly as any of the current parties would have led us down the same garden path. All of them have been repeating the mantra of financial deregulation that has well and truely *&^%~@# us all.
Brown or Cameron? Total non-choice. The only difference being that the Tories will give the poor a bit more of a kicking.
there is nothing wrong with deregulation, in fact it is the reason why the city of london reigns supreme.
however you need good regulation, and labour hasn't supplied that. giving the BoE the ability to set interest rate was a good move*, but stopping the BoE from regulating banks in favour of the tri-partite formula was a disaster/
* the tories never did it because they were happy to let labour screw the economy via over-management.
Furunculus 23:10 01-24-2009
Originally Posted by tibilicus:
Brown can't solely be blamed for the economic problem. if your going to blame one person for it blame former president Bush. Leader of the worlds biggest economy and then bang recession hits after years of poor management with money. Just another thing he did wrong. Just remember pretty much half the Western worlds economy depends on the USA. As soon as their bubble went bust so did everybody else's.
And whilst Brown is no hero I would prefer him over the Eaton graduate's club any day. To be honest if any one is even considering voting for that upper class snob Cameron you should be ashamed of yourself. Like he has the peoples best interest at heart and not the banks.
Yer right..
you might try clinton, it was his gov't that persuaded Fannie and Freddie to provide social lending.
i think you will find that a free marketeer is the polar opposite to a corprotist (sp?), and browns nationalising of the banks give him a great claim to the latter title.
Furunculus 23:12 01-24-2009
Originally Posted by Idaho:
Naah - they both play exactly the same game:
you graph conveniently ignores which governments grew the economy.
Furunculus 23:15 01-24-2009
Originally Posted by Idaho:
IA - I don't get you Tories. You won. You got the Labour Party to be just like the Conservative Party. And yet you still complain and draw laughable reference to 'socialism'.
a tory government doesn't absorb 43% of the economy in taxation and Gov't spending.
Furunculus 23:18 01-24-2009
Originally Posted by
rory_20_uk:
The tendrils of the state needs to be heavily pared back, along with lowering taxes. Better to do a few things well than a vast number badly.

the truth, brother.
rory_20_uk 23:57 01-24-2009
Multipost is quite useful...
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