Government (ie. your taxes) at work

[chris79]

Hmm wait a sec...

Just because we're reading or trying to understand something we're not an 'expert' in here, doesn't mean we can't as an individual have an 'opinion' on it.

Everyone will have a different life experience/knowledge/bias towards a subject, so what may be correct to one person, is not 'as' correct to another person, then the next, etc. The opinion expressed will only satisfy that of the person who has said it, and the debate element is a compromise between all those with an opinion. It is my view that forming the best 'shared opinion' which is acceptable to all those with an interest is the most important one as it represents the views to a problem which is shared between all those involved.

Most of the subjects posted on here tend to be economy/money/social/ethical and therefore reach/affect everyone who posts here. I think it's important to realise that many people are posting opinion rather than fact, to say that they should have no opinion purely because they are not the top 5 people in the world on the subject, or that it is not their day job is rather extreme. This is like saying that you should never discuss, read, or involve yourself in anything other than your primary profession. If this were the case we would live in a very isolated and broken society.

Disclaimer: The above is just my 'opinion' and not fact, I'm by no means a world expert on the views I've just written about.

[PM-Junkie]

OK everybody - in future please check in with "jkoder" and "board game geek" and give your background and qualifications before you post, so that they can confirm that you are qualified to state your opinion.

[d000hg]

Speak for yourself.

But we can make a blanket statement that all MPs are corrupt? Seriously, you do know that many view contractors with disdain right?

[Board Game Geek]

Hardly PM !

All discussions and views are valid withing a free society (provided they are legal ofc). Nothing wrong with posting them,

I'm just saying that some views have more credibility based on the person's experience and skillset, and that needs to be factored in by the reader.

For complex economic issues, you need to be assured that the poster has an advanced understanding of economics above and beyond the general mien.

[Cyberman]

A friendly word of advice, and as an attempt to prevent you being insulted in return (deservedly so) - it is best not to make assumptions about people discussing things on a public forum who you know absolutely nothing about. You tend to make yourself look a little foolish.

There are people here who know a lot more about economics than you imagine. Instead of descending to the level insulting everyone on this forum, why not try contributing to the debate?

WHS. If a few of these posters had been listened to about 18 months ago we would be in a lot less mess than we are now. Personally, I was advocating more stringent credit controls at that time because I could forsee massive debt problems building up as more and more mortgages were sanctioned to cover credit-card debts etc. I could also see a bust on its way as interest rates were put up to counter the inflation caused by these excessive mortgages.

Why were our authorities completely inactive when many people could also envisage the mess that would ensue ? It has to be that they were either totally lacking in economic knowledge or negligent.

[Cyberman]

OK everybody - in future please check in with "jkoder" and "board game geek" and give your background and qualifications before you post, so that they can confirm that you are qualified to state your opinion.

This reminds me of a time when I was working in Germany and I was trying to explain why the German economy was in a mess, and an arrogant german guy in the office said, 'you are just a programmer.... how can you know the economic situation in Germany.'

[Cyberman]

Hardly PM !

All discussions and views are valid withing a free society (provided they are legal ofc). Nothing wrong with posting them,

I'm just saying that some views have more credibility based on the person's experience and skillset, and that needs to be factored in by the reader.

For complex economic issues, you need to be assured that the poster has an advanced understanding of economics above and beyond the general mien.

The main problem is that we have people in power who are 'learning' on the job !!

[tim123]

WHS. If a few of these posters had been listened to about 18 months ago we would be in a lot less mess than we are now.

No, 18 months ago was far too late. The mess was already created then. Controls needed to be in place in 2003 for this crash to have been avoided.

tim

[Cyberman]

No, 18 months ago was far too late. The mess was already created then. Controls needed to be in place in 2003 for this crash to have been avoided.

tim

To an extent I agree, but those in power did not even consider controls at any time. That is gross negligence, but Brown wanted to keep the boom going and he thought BUST would never happen !!

[Doggy Styles]

No, 18 months ago was far too late. The mess was already created then. Controls needed to be in place in 2003 for this crash to have been avoided.

tim

True, or earlier. Can we trace this back to Brown removing responsibility for lending controls from the BoE and not giving them to anyone else?

Actually, my alarm bells started ringing in 2002, soon after 9/11, when Tony Blair came on TV exhorting the nation to spend, spend, spend.