Emergency Budget - are you ready to feel the pain?

rdt

woodnut wrote:

rdt wrote:

Do you think it's some sort of scare story dreamed up by people? "Class warfare"? Jeez, give us a break....

:roll:

to an extent, yes, that is whats happening. We're being softened up to pay for the mistakes of the very financial "experts" who are now holding countries like Greece, Hungary and probably, soon, us to ransom.

"unemployment would soar as businesses failed and the Govt was forced into enormous spending cuts of a level it's difficult to even imagine"

...but that's going to happen anyway! as we've been told. "It's a price worth paying "

But of course, as said elsewhere, the rich are cushioned from this "harsh reality"they expect the rest of us to face, so they would say that, wouldn't they? So yes it is a class war.

And look I can roll my eyes aswell.... :roll:

Hello woodnut, you're factually incorrect regarding the bit I've bolded.

Our plight, and current vulnerable position regarding the budget deficit, is not primarily due to the banking-crisis induced recession. i.e. not due to the despised "financial wizards".

It's due to the Government spending more than it earned on an ever increasing scale for a 10 year period. It's odd that people seem unable to grasp this, but it was politically convenient to blame the banking bogey man, rather then 'fess up to being culpable themselves.

Rather, it was basic budgeting that went out of the window for 10 years - the sort of thing that if an individual did it, you'd decry them as being a financial feckwit.

The bank "bail out" costs haven't made a material difference to the scale of this deficit. In fact, there's every likelihood that the Govt will make a profit on their "bail-out" investments.

The structural budget deficit was already of a scale which meant that whenever we hit an economic bump in the road (as countries always do - recessions are inevitable), we we're going to be in the financial cr@pper. That's what happened. We hit a large bump and ended up in a deep hole, so the repercussions of our large structural deficit will be worse, but there were always going to be very bad repercussions at some point.

And no, I've nothing to do with the banking industry or politics, so no axe to grind other than appreciating the economic facts rather than the political spin, or the blaming of easy targets and bogey men.

Anyway, rather tedious subject for this forum so maybe best left for elsewhere..... :oops:

woodnut

Agreed, song title thread makes me much happier,

LJAR

unixnerd wrote:

Just ignore the news and forget about it. Life's too short and you only get one go. Go and have a pedal and forget about it :-)

Oficially the best advice all year.

Smokin Joe

LJAR wrote:

unixnerd wrote:

Just ignore the news and forget about it. Life's too short and you only get one go. Go and have a pedal and forget about it :-)

Oficially the best advice all year.

They've reposessed my bikes

Sirius631

And what if the Cycle to Work scheme ends?

chasrock

the last government has created a massive underclass reliant on benefits, that think getting job is for mugs. Jobseekers allowance - surely if your claiming unemploymnet benefit you should be looking for a job without extra benefit?
Getting pregnant is seen as the easiest way to a house/income (benefits) - no need for a man any more as the state will foot the bill !

gabriel959

TheStone wrote:

nwallace wrote:

CUTS

- Remove all housing schemes (shared equity etc .... there's f-ing loads of different ones)
+ Wouldn't like to see education cut, we've left the next generation with too many problems already.

Like no affordable housing...

All these things (including quite large housing benefits payments) are there to keep the
market high and price out the younger generation.

Remove them all, let the prices crash and then we can rebuild the economy. (give or take
some serious banking issues)

All the other things (VAT/tax rises, benefit cuts) will lead to a lower standard of living.
This is unavoidable. If you make 20k and borrow 10k on a credit card you have a good year.
If the next year, you have to pay back the 10k, you have a bad year.

You talk some sense mate!

You deserve an

finchy

chasrock wrote:

Jobseekers allowance - surely if your claiming unemploymnet benefit you should be looking for a job without extra benefit?

Jobseeker's Allowance is the name for unemployment benefit, it's not an extra.

nicensleazy

Well, it won't be long before we all find out!

tebbit

It will be interesting to see how they manage to "finesse" the economy away from the state and city dependency it has now, manufacturing anyone

Pross

Got given a 10% pay cut, lost the company contributions to my pension and had my car fuel allowance taken off me in the past 15 months so I've been feeling the pain for a while now and gets right on my tits when the public sector moan how they are having to take an unfair hit by being given a pay freeze. :evil:

I haven't enjoyed the "pain" but realise it was essential to the company's survival (and therefore my continued employment). I've done 50% of my working life in the public sector and still feel that in many cases the lifers in that sector have no idea of the real working world.