rant What the heck is it with this country

[Dozymare]

Carl S

 

It was about 4 years ago that the economic indicators began to show significant strain and the government policies shifted to shoring it up in a way that wasn't sustainable. The articles and publications were in the public domain but didn't fit with the "end to boom and bust" image so for some reason didn't make it onto mainstream news channels. About three years ago I sold my house, cleared all my debt and shifted everything including my job into as risk free areas as I could find.

 

What Gordon could have done is let the market conditions sort it out instead of interfering - we would have had a period of low growth but probably not enough to be classed as a recession. Because of the active encouragement by the government given to certain sectors to run closer and closer to the wind it has increased the risk to the economy as a whole. One catalyst and the whole thing has collapsed.

 

Remember, 10 years ago small/medium size businesses running on loans or overdrafts was very much the exception rather than the rule - at the start of 2008 it was very unusual to see a business without both.

 

*gets back off soapbox*

 

By the way, is anyone else concerned that most commentators agreed that if GB's growth predictions were wrong the country would go bankrupt by the end of 2010 (unless they closed essential services like hospitals) and they have already shown to be optimistic against the first set published?

[Carl_S]

DM,

 

I find you have been quite vague on what Gordon could have done. Perhaps you could unleash the full payload of your financial knowledge here and give a more generous reply to that point.

 

I understand if you do not wish to answer this, but are you a Tory voter?

 

DB

 

I gave Tony the benefit of the doubt about Iraq and you don't. You believe he lied deliberately about WMD and I believe he didn't.

 

What do you mean by culpable deniability by the way?

 

Even if the government was deliberately hurting the economy, which I think is a very odd concept to entertain, then who's to say their master plan would work anyway? I certainly would not trust the plan of a goverment who deliberately goes out to harm its own country's ecomonomy. But I then know next to nothing about politics.

[Dozymare]

DM,

Perhaps you could unleash the full payload of your financial knowledge here and give a more generous reply to that point.

 

Ouch

 

Didn't say I knew it all, as I mentioned these were just statements that were being made at the time by credible sources (and no, I can't remember which ones, just that they credible) but didn't get widely publicised. It bugs me that the mainstream media seem happy to report that it all came as a bit of a surprise.

 

And personally, as mentioned, I would have let market forces sort it out with little/no government intervention so what I expected GB to do was basically nothing.

 

Btw I voted labour the first time, tory the second and I have no idea what I'm going to do next because the Tories haven't got anything convincing and some of the Lib dem policies are downright scary.

[Carl_S]

I hear you DM, and sorry did not mean to take a massive pop at your knowledge, as I know next to nothing about this, just wanted you to explain more if you could and thereby learn from you.

 

We are agreed on some of the Lib dem policies (and for me perhaps even some of the Lib dems themselves) being down right scary.

 

When you talk about little or no intervention from Goverment, do you feel that the MPC's continued lowering of the interest rate is really a government decision, and if you do, how do you feel about the whole thing?

[dangerous brain]

This countries biggest problem is that as things stand there isn't exactly a decent alternative. So we get the current clowns that are highly experienced at making a complete ass of things or another set of unproven clowns that more than likely will also make a complete ass of things. OH deep joy.

 

As for fixing things, well hows about we do something about the bureaucracy and unnecessary levels of management and protocol in pretty much every public service. There isn't an area of public service industries that doesn't cost stupid amounts more money to run now than it did ten years ago for less service. There are too many managers running around trying to make their mark setting up all sorts of systems that are to a certain degree self perpetuating. The "cost cutting" procedures invariably end up double the original cost, we don't see the waste because its attributed to a different budget so yes Mr manager has halved his depts costs but the three other depts he set up each with their own managers have exactly the same cost as his own thereby doubling the actual cost to get the job done. There used to be a day when a tradesperson be that a policeman,nurse, MOD worker etc etc was given a job and it was done. Now committees sit around deciding what Mr X, Y, and Z will do, what rules they can create to have to work around, then apply farcical levels of political correctness to it. Bidding process's for contracts is insane. Companies bid for projects based on throwing in the lowest quote, knowing full well that the job can't be done for the money they have quoted. Then when its halfway in and beyond the ability to move the project elsewhere they eke out more and more cash. I firmly believe this happens in all aspects of public spending.