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Iceland took on the domestic debts from those banks but didn’t bail out the foreign debts. They jailed the bankers responsible.
The point I wanted to make is that control of national debt is the way to get to a sustainable economy that doesn’t need growth to balance the books. Iceland is actually a good example of this as their debt to GDP was over 130% even without the banks foreign debt, they controlled this in a sustainable manner. They didn’t write off the 130%, they paid it down. They needed to run budget surpluses for several years, which didn’t happen in the UK even during the austerity years. You’re right in that the foreign debts of the banks dwarfed the country’s debt, but Iceland saw those debts as the bank’s obligation and not the country’s. Rightly or wrongly the EFTA court agreed.
Capitalism is the best system we have, it has generally raised living standards. There are many examples of people who have gone from poor to rich and vice versa. Where I agree with you is the problems caused by constantly needing growth, the pressure this puts on our infrastructure and environment. If the government, and by extension the populace, cared about keeping a lid on national debt then we wouldn’t need GDP growth to keep up.
Iceland didn’t ignore their national debt, quite the opposite. It ballooned due to a financial crisis rather than government largesse. In response they put up taxes, reduced spending, reneged on foreign debts, crashed their currency by 60%, introduced capital controls, all with the intent to reduce their national debt. It was far from easy but they’ve come out the other side having halved the debt % and were able to pivot to an export-based economy boosted by tourism.
I broadly agree with your thoughts and certainly the contention that we should aspire towards a more sustainable model.
Debt sustainability is the issue that would make such a change, or any positive change, difficult to achieve. Not impossible, but difficult. If our debt rises faster than GDP, and crucially more so than other countries, markets will punish us by devaluing the pound and increasing the interest rate paid on our debt, in a similar manner to what we saw briefly under Liz Truss. This is where the pressure for GDP growth comes from, as the government runs a deficit every year which adds to the debt alongside the interest payments.
The CBI estimates UK GDP will grow by 1% this year. A recent auction for government debt raised new funds for 4.25%, but the collective rate paid on all debt as a % of GDP is closer to 3%. The annual fiscal deficit is estimated to be around 4% of GDP. The country either needs GDP growth, lower interest payments on its debt, or needs to shrink its deficit (austerity). The easiest way to achieve GDP growth is through immigration.
I didn’t mean it to come across like that and apologise. There’s been a number of helpful posts in this thread that expand on the simple points I put across, particularly in relation to reducing expenditure.
I agree it’s not realistic for people to be doing the kinds of jobs you’ve listed into an older age, and there isn’t a direct alternative for them. They will probably have to consider different industries when they can no longer do that role. It’s not nice, and tbh employers should take more responsibility in preparing their staff for moving on when that time comes. If the finances were there for people they of course wouldn’t have to do it, but as finances are getting worse more will. The government will offer some help in this crisis but almost certainly not enough, so anything people can do to help themselves will be worthwhile. My posts are mostly a response to some behaviours I am seeing day to day (not online), people in denial of what’s to come and unprepared to take action now to help themselves for what’s ahead.
It’s not my fault Bryan so I don’t need an excuse. It’s the reality, we must get on with it and try to make things better. The world has finite resources but the population continues to increase, falling standards are an inevitability. As individuals the best way to improve our lot is to live within our means, and grow from there.
Exactly. Those who have set up their own energy supply and grow their own food are entitled to reap the rewards of that hard work and prudence. It’s a lesson for us all.
No generation has ever had it as good as the baby boomers, that is a fact. Yes living standards are falling which isn’t nice, but others have had it worse further back in history and even in the present in parts of the world less fortunate.
We know it’s happening, moaning doesn’t help we just have to get on with it. We can still enjoy ourselves but we have to do more to earn it rather than feel entitled to it.
It’s important to remember that this isn’t down to me, or down to you. It’s simply the reality of the wider world, which we have no control over.
But we do have control over how much work we do, how much we spend, and how much reliance we have on external forces. We can also control whether we do a physical or a non-physical job. I hope things work out for you, stay positive.
The world has an energy production shortfall and a skilled labour shortfall, particularly developed nations. As it would happen, the former and the associated increased cost of living will put pressure on skilled workers to retire later, alleviating the latter somewhat.
At the individual level, all we can do is work more, spend less, and focus on being as self-sufficient and off-grid as possible. For the more entrepreneurial there are some clear opportunities.
An example of why the club needs to make the hard decision asap. IMO our best players suit a counterattacking approach, Oba breaking beyond the defence, Piroe and Paterson in the space left behind him. Grimes is more than capable of playing incisive through balls when he wants to and if tasked to.
We would need pacy capable young players such as Garrick and Joseph on the flanks or in reserve for such a system. The slow build up style we’re currently going with leaves our front two with no space and few opportunities. Martin is shaping the squad to fit his turgid style, limiting the potential for change.
For me, not using the third sub showed a lack of ambition from Martin. We had two forwards on the bench who have played well in pre-season, and could have taken a chance by pulling one of the 3 cbs given we had all of the ball. But yes the coaching and tactics contribute to the half-paced build up that leads to little. Saved today by a moment of brilliance from Darling.
You’re absolutely right, after Covid was an ideal time and he has been planning this for years. He’s waited for the likes of Germany to decommission domestic power supplies and become reliant on Russian energy. He’s built up foreign currency reserves and engineered a budgetary surplus such that they would be less impacted by sanctions. He invaded Crimea within a couple of years of the discovery of proven natural gas reserves in the south and east of Ukraine, and now coincidentally the war efforts are focused on those regions.
There is no justification for the war, it is unconscionable and I do believe western countries should consider themselves at war with Russia too and make every effort to save Ukraine from further bloodshed.
Sorry I didn’t know that, and to be clear I’ve still not seen evidence but will take your word for it as an accurate portrayal and not an interpretation.
You will not find any post of mine denying that Russia has invaded Ukraine. I’m concerned that anyone would believe this. Unless I’m missing something not even Russia denies it’s invaded Ukraine? Which does circle back to the propaganda accusation, surely such a claim is based on deep confusion rather than propaganda? My contention is that Jacks on this board are not knowingly Russian misinformation agents, but I probably shouldn’t be surprised if I’m wrong about that (or perhaps there are Russians posing as Jacks).
Fair enough mate, you could be right. I haven’t spent much time in that thread but have interacted with some of the accused posters on other threads, and in those instances didn’t pick up a pro-Russian propaganda bias, just fellow Jacks.
I do think Putin has been very clever in spinning a narrative that Russia is standing up for itself in the face of Western interference. After all, we all know how much the West has interfered over the years. He has been heinously opportune in his timing and justification for the war, and anyone who has a healthy distrust for our media could understandably be somewhat taken in by his tales. He is a master manipulator but the die has been cast for most of us now and we should do more to topple him.
Could they just be wrong mate? Lot’s of people were wrong about the Iraq war, and that deception probably more than any other has led to doubt and questioning today.
Where I could be wrong is that I’ve overlooked evidence proving others have done what you’ve accused them of. If so I apologise and concur that a ban is in order, in my humble opinion.
My apologies for being unclear. I’m not concerned with anyone’s feelings, I’m concerned with evidence. Subsequent to your post I’ve clarified and will reiterate that I do think knowingly spreading untrue propaganda is a line and it would change my vote on this matter.
Are you accusing me of spreading propaganda? What’s your theory? Who am I partial towards?
I agree with the principle that anyone knowingly and deliberately spreading untrue propaganda should be banned, I think that would be too harmful for the site.
But I haven’t seen any evidence proving this. Perhaps I’ve missed it, I don’t read every post. It’s very hard to prove that someone else knows something that you may suspect they know. As such, if you know what they are posting is untrue, it should be far simpler to evidence why it is untrue. Isn’t that a better approach to dealing with these issues?
I have less strength in my convictions than some on this site, but the following video made Putin’s actions and lies clear to me. I’d encourage anyone defending Russia to give it a watch.
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