Reply to: PMQ's

[Doggy Styles]

and how do you get the economy going when you have no money to "invest"?

This was similar to my question but russ doesn't seem to understand the concept. No point in debating it any further.

[DodgyAgent]

Get the economy growing is the best way to start, then over time streamlining the public sector etc. Wholesale slashes all over the place just as you emerge from a recession is not the way to go. There is a bit of a false dichotomy with the Tories they think it's either deep cuts or keep borrowing huge amounts.

and how do you get the economy going when you have no money to "invest"?

[swamp]

According to Bloomberg, the UK budget deficit fell from 7.7 billion last year to 6.5 billion this year, excluding support for banks. Does not sound like much of a budget cut.

These 'cuts' are like one of those dippy minimum wage credit-card shopaholics who has started spending money in House of Fraser instead of Harvey Nichols. Labour want the UK to carry on shopping in Knightsbridge's finest while 'growth' gets us out of trouble. But the only growth that Labour achieved was in net immigration.

[TimberWolf]

From what I understand there hasn't been any cut in spending, they have just cut down on the increase in spending.

They haven't cut the cut in spending as fast as they pretended they were going to though. The debt mountain grows and will be a problem for the next government to deal with in the unlikely event that events don't catch up with them before that time.

[The_Equalizer]

It's a bit late now, if they hadn't cut so hard the country would be growing. They blew it.

From what I understand there hasn't been any cut in spending, they have just cut down on the increase in spending.

[GreenLabel]

It's a bit late now, if they hadn't cut so hard the country would be growing. They blew it.

What utter crap. Spending in April - September 2011, for example, was higher than in the same months of 2010.

[russell]

All well and good but where does the money come from to sustain the losses, particularly as the UK economy is not growing? Trees?

It's a bit late now, if they hadn't cut so hard the country would be growing. They blew it.

[DodgyAgent]

Get the economy growing is the best way to start, then over time streamlining the public sector etc. Wholesale slashes all over the place just as you emerge from a recession is not the way to go. There is a bit of a false dichotomy with the Tories they think it's either deep cuts or keep borrowing huge amounts.

All well and good but where does the money come from to sustain the losses, particularly as the UK economy is not growing? Trees?

[TimberWolf]

I think we need a crash. Things are too ****ed up to start from here.

[doodab]

Do you know what a false dichotomy is?

Is that a rhetorical question?

[russell]

Growth is not simply throwing more taxpayers money at public services. That's what the last lot did. It was like keeping a steamship going by ripping planks from the hull to fuel the boiler, with predictable results.

Growth has got to come from the private sector. This is the problem that HMG know they have to resolve. Be a bit more positive. What are your ideas for stimulating that?

Do you know what a false dichotomy is?

[Doggy Styles]

Get the economy growing is the best way to start, then over time streamlining the public sector etc. Wholesale slashes all over the place just as you emerge from a recession is not the way to go. There is a bit of a false dichotomy with the Tories they think it's either deep cuts or keep borrowing huge amounts.

Growth is not simply throwing more taxpayers money at public services. That's what the last lot did. It was like keeping a steamship going by ripping planks from the hull to fuel the boiler, with predictable results.

Growth has got to come from the private sector. This is the problem that HMG know they have to resolve. Be a bit more positive. What are your ideas for stimulating that?

[doodab]

We are now paying for our indulgence with socialism.

We are paying for an obsession with profit at the cost of planning for the future. Good jobs aren't going to materialize at all as long as we are neglecting R&D, neglecting on the job training and pushing people out of work to replace them with somebody cheaper thus making an investment in self improvement somewhat risky.

There are enlightened companies that recognise this and try to do something about it but in a downturn the first things to go are often R&D, student placements and so on. Hardly the way to encourage growth.

[TimberWolf]

Some public sector salaries were briefly shown on the news yesterday and they were staggering. IIRC: Nurses ~27K, policemen edging on 40K + holidays and pension and all the rest. And at the top was a cleaner on 7K.

[doodab]

remove the employment laws that make it impossible to sack poor teachers.

But that will make thousands unemployed almost overnight.