Rent controls could reduce the welfare bill, as would increasing minimum wage. It's ridiculous the profit Tesco makes and the pittance they pay the face of the company. Same with Barclays, giving bonuses when frontline staff are being cut.
But then I understand the difficulties around that, but there must be some middle ground somehow.
If only humans could be less greedy.
This! Especially the last bit!Originally Posted by holnrew
labia muzzle
What nonsense. Did you get that from a xmas cracker evilmags?
How can the individual be a minority when there's 7 billion of them?
'My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic'
OMG! I actually can't tell if that's inspirationally brilliant or a bit silly!
The accepted theory of how the economy works is that the total output of an economy (the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, is comprised of private consumption (=consumer spending) + gross investment (commercial sector) + government spending (taxation revenue + govt borrowing) + exports − imports. In a recession, put simply, GDP falls. If you cut government spending it falls further = deeper recession ie it gets worse.
The theory says the government should put money away in the good times (top of cycle) to spend in the bad times. Gordon Brown and Ed Balls did the exact opposite, which is (mostly) why we are in this sh*t now.
To answer your question: if the government cuts taxes, it depends what the consumer does with the tax rebate. If they save it (as now, because they are over-indebted), there is no benefit to the economy. If they spend it on imports, there is no benefit. You get the picture.
As to taxes, the key is what the government spends our money on. If it spends it on infrastructure and housing, that is investment, which should create employment (=less welfare and more tax revenue) creating a 'virtuous spiral' and the economy picks up . If it spends it on the dole, housing benefit and public sector pensions, some sectors benefit but there is no such 'multiplier' effect.
The argument is that you should tax less, and let the commercial sector invest more efficiently.
Last edited by Fusionista; 5th March 2013 at 07:50 AM.
Nasty, brutish and slightly above average height
"stop being greedy" is a nice way of saying "give us your stuff"
i know that we as a society have become addicted to ownership - we all want things - such is the manner of a society that has had an element of capitalism for any length of time - but we have also become addicted to entitlement - huge portions of society have been accepting gifts for so long that they have long passed the point where they say "thank you" - it has become "wheres my stuff!?"
the rich are shtheads - its true - their money has been taken away for so long that they resent it instead of feeling altruistic - but the poor are shtheads too - instead of feeling gratitude for being looked after by the rich they complain that they arent getting as much as they want (as if this were a finite value)
yup - greed is lame
Actually wrong on all counts. If people pay down their debt it's actually good for the economy. It reduces the expose of the banks to bad debt, it improves their liquidity and allows them to lend money to companies and individuals. People have been paying down debt and have been taking advantage of low interest rates and good deals to buy cars [the UK car market is booming] and improve their homes [a number of streets near where I live look like building sites such is the demand to extend homes whilst money is cheap]. John Lewis has just reported record profits - the economy actually grew last year. We didn't have a double-dip recession and there are now more people employed. It's not all doom and gloom.
As for imports that again is a wrong. It boosts the retail economy from the local DIY store to the car showroom and mobile phone provider.
Why do you want to make me wrong ? Does it make you feel smart ? When the banks are as over-extended as they are, covering as many bad debts as they are, their liquidity is not improved in practice by loan repayments, nor is their propensity to lend, QED. We could discuss your other points too, but suffice to say I was trying to keep it simple.
Nasty, brutish and slightly above average height
Are you serious about poor people needing to be grateful to rich people?
I'm not talking about benefits. I'm talking about corporations paying their employees properly. Supermarkets paying minimum wage is disgusting, especially with the demands they make of you. Paying them even just 50p per hour more could boost the economy massively.
I have no problem with rich people who have earned it, but I hate the system of shareholders being more important than employees and the customer. Ideally I'd like to see more, smaller privately limited companies take the place of the massive (government enabled) corporations.
The rich poor divide keeps on increasing. For all the talk of "you can climb out of poverty by working hard", it's becoming much more difficult. And as always you can work as hard as one's mother's vagina, but without a bit of luck and knowing the right people, you're not guaranteed to make it.
I've had shit tons of bad luck, but I'm studying engineering with the OU, looking for work and constantly trying to improve myself and overcome my mental disabilities. I'm receiving benefits, but less than a year after winning an appeal against a decision that I wasn't entitled to them, I'm being reassessed. Without the stability of a constant income, and the added stress of the current system, it makes things a fuckload more difficult. And I'm sure it's not just me.
I've come to terms with the fact that my dislike of rich people is simply down to envy, but that doesn't mean that employees shouldn't be fairly paid, that self-entitled landlords should screw everyone for basic accommodation, and that the needy don't get the help they need to get where they want to be going.
This has kind of turned into a general rant. I'm exhausted physically and emotionally at the moment and it just came out...
You should rant more Holnrew.
+ f'ing 1 too
'My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic'
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