Reply to: An apology Lord Mervyn King

[doodab]

Right then. I'm off to load up my credit cards in the gadget shop.

[Ticktock]

So all the Govt needs to do is to keep sacking public servants to keep unemployment rate above 7% - that's joined up thinking for you - working in tandem with Bank of England to revive British cconomy

Nope - they don't even need to do that. The commitment is that when unemployment drops to 7% then they will reconsider interest rates - not neccessarily change them. So we could drop to 3% unemployment, and they could still say "We're not raising rates yet". Basically, unless something drastic happens to inflation then the rates are staying low - bury yourselves in debt quickly! After all, the worst that will happen is that if rates go up and you find you can't afford to pay it back you can just blame the banks for lending it to you - it's their fault, not yours.

[scooterscot]

Well done you!! Did not think anyone would get that.

[amcdonald]

They do. CMD is constantly extolling the German way as is the Labour ponce.
Thing is you can't change the lazy culture of a country.

At least they're trying by making benefits less lucrative

[AtW]

It clearly states that they will only be reconsidered when unemployment drops to 7% (so may still be held at that point)

So all the Govt needs to do is to keep sacking public servants to keep unemployment rate above 7% - that's joined up thinking for you - working in tandem with Bank of England to revive British cconomy

[sasguru]

One apartment, one house.

Did you sell them on ebay? I hope you replaced them or your kid will be cross.

[sasguru]

It's a shame LibLabCon know nothing about this.

They do. CMD is constantly extolling the German way as is the Labour ponce.
Thing is you can't change the lazy culture of a country.

[Paddy]

Just sold two houses in the last 24 hours since this news, 20% markup on purchase price a few years ago, boomed!

[DimPrawn]

I disagree. The exchange rate probably helps but the surplus has been growing for 20 years+, and was actually close to what it is now 10 years ago when the € was worth considerably more.

IMO, it's primarily because of Hidden Champions. There is a lot of stuff the Germans make and sell that is either the best you can get or close to it, or in some cases simply cannot be obtained elsewhere. Companies like Zeiss, Leica, RME, Neumann / Sennheiser etc and countless other SME "toolmakers" that sell into markets in industry where quality counts and investments aren't made on the basis of purchase cost alone.

They also have a more stable labour market with less short term hire and fire and more long term investment in skills that means they remain competitive in manufacturing, not because they have the cheapest workers per se but because they have highly skilled people available for a reasonable price. The have also embraced low cost overseas manufacture, albeit usually a little closer to home in former communist block countries rather than China and SE Asia.

It's a shame LibLabCon know nothing about this.

[sasguru]

Anyone who retires now is a twunt. What cretin would do something as stupid as that?

Quite. especially if with the right skills you can be earning £900+ per day.

[doodab]

Germany only has such a big surplus due to an unrealistic exchange rate courtesy of the Euro.

I disagree. The exchange rate probably helps but the surplus has been growing for 20 years+, and was actually close to what it is now 10 years ago when the € was worth considerably more.

IMO, it's primarily because of Hidden Champions. There is a lot of stuff the Germans make and sell that is either the best you can get or close to it, or in some cases simply cannot be obtained elsewhere. Companies like Zeiss, Leica, RME, Neumann / Sennheiser etc and countless other SME "toolmakers" that sell into markets in industry where quality counts and investments aren't made on the basis of purchase cost alone.

They also have a more stable labour market with less short term hire and fire and more long term investment in skills that means they remain competitive in manufacturing, not because they have the cheapest workers per se but because they have highly skilled people available for a reasonable price. The have also embraced low cost overseas manufacture, albeit usually a little closer to home in former communist block countries rather than China and SE Asia.

[scooterscot]

Germany only has such a big surplus due to an unrealistic exchange rate courtesy of the Euro.

no no no.

It has a surplus because it exports stuff people want to buy. Moreover people here do not spend money on things they don't need.

[BrilloPad]

What could he do, and what can anyone do, to change the essential fact: Britain can't pay it's way in the world? Neither can the US and most countries in Europe. The only Western country that runs a trade surplus is Germany.
That is the essential fact that leads to our long term doom.
I am impressed with the all the tricks policymakers use to postpone that doom, though - and Mervyn was a master of that.

Germany only has such a big surplus due to an unrealistic exchange rate courtesy of the Euro.

MK brought doom on the UK by allowing Labour to spend, spend, spend.

At least now the policy of inflating away the debt is out in the open.

Anyone who retires now is a twunt. What cretin would do something as stupid as that?

[doodab]

Boiling frog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1869, while doing experiments searching for the location of the soul, German physiologist Friedrich Goltz demonstrated that a frog that has had its brain removed will remain in slowly heated water, but his intact frogs attempted to escape the water.[4][16]

Fascinating.

[scooterscot]

You mean two flats?

One apartment, one house.