BREXIT - Is This Really Still Rumbling On? 😴

1130713081310131213132102

Comments

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,734
    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Has the thread title already handed victory to Corbyn?

    Why does the official Conservative party twitter feed keep posting videos of Corbyn saying how the number of GPs has gone down under the Tories? It's a weird strategy to promote his main attack for him.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538

    Has the thread title already handed victory to Corbyn?

    Why does the official Conservative party twitter feed keep posting videos of Corbyn saying how the number of GPs has gone down under the Tories? It's a weird strategy to promote his main attack for him.

    Not really, as compared to a moderate Labour leader he is an electoral liability and will likely deny Labour victory - again. That's the whole point of the thread...
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538
    In the meantime, David Blunkett add to the list of those publically denouncing their own party.
    https://independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-blunkett-labour-corbyn-antisemitism-party-column-a9196091.html
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,691
    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538
    edited November 2019
    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    You've just explained how we have got to where we are in terms of debt.

    See Greece for an example of a country that went too far. And watch Italy for a country that is headed that way.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,799
    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    There are only 3 possible solutions to this.
    1. Decrease spending.
    2. Increase taxation.
    3. A combination of 1 and 2.

    It has been explained that increasing taxation does not increase tax income so the only possible solution is a continuation of austerity. Or massive debts. Woohoo!
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,691
    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    You've just explained how we have got to where we are in terms of debt.

    See Greece for an example of a country that went too far. And watch Italy for a country that is headed that way.
    I've found some more figures: make that 75 years. Seems pretty sustainable to me. Greece's receipts are similar to ours (as % of GDP) but their spending is 10-12% of GDP higher than ours. If Javid or McDonnell announced spending of an extra £700bn per year then we might be close to a Greek situation.

    But they're not.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538
    edited November 2019
    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    You've just explained how we have got to where we are in terms of debt.

    See Greece for an example of a country that went too far. And watch Italy for a country that is headed that way.
    I've found some more figures: make that 75 years. Seems pretty sustainable to me. Greece's receipts are similar to ours (as % of GDP) but their spending is 10-12% of GDP higher than ours. If Javid or McDonnell announced spending of an extra £700bn per year then we might be close to a Greek situation.

    But they're not.
    I think you're being a bit optimistic. Our GDP is around £2 trillion so 10% of that is £200 billion. Which is less than the cost of the Labour nationalisation promise for starters. Latest estimates of Labour's total spending plans are up to £1.2 trillion extra over 5 years.

    And then there's the assumption that borrowing rates will stay the same - whereas they are likely to rise if Labour gets in. And that our income will stay the same which its unlikely to with Labour's business unfriendly policies.

    It is not a viable long term strategy.

    Being Greece without the sunshine is not a good prospect - but if you really want it, vote Labour.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,691
    Yep, not sure about that calculation. Perils of trying to multitask with squabbling kids. It depends which figures you are looking at as some lump in capital investment and others not, but as far as I can tell neither are anywhere near a 10-12% of GDP pa increase. And I'm not saying either offer is great. Just that it's possible to increase public spending without lurching to the extremes of Greece. There's a massive gap in Labour's figures on health, which is bound to just keep increasing until we fundamentally alter the nation's demographics.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Stevo_666 said:

    Has the thread title already handed victory to Corbyn?

    Why does the official Conservative party twitter feed keep posting videos of Corbyn saying how the number of GPs has gone down under the Tories? It's a weird strategy to promote his main attack for him.

    Not really, as compared to a moderate Labour leader he is an electoral liability and will likely deny Labour victory - again. That's the whole point of the thread...
    That's the other one
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538

    Stevo_666 said:

    Has the thread title already handed victory to Corbyn?

    Why does the official Conservative party twitter feed keep posting videos of Corbyn saying how the number of GPs has gone down under the Tories? It's a weird strategy to promote his main attack for him.

    Not really, as compared to a moderate Labour leader he is an electoral liability and will likely deny Labour victory - again. That's the whole point of the thread...
    That's the other one
    Given I'm the OP, it's my thread so that definitely is the point ;)
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Has the thread title already handed victory to Corbyn?

    Why does the official Conservative party twitter feed keep posting videos of Corbyn saying how the number of GPs has gone down under the Tories? It's a weird strategy to promote his main attack for him.

    Not really, as compared to a moderate Labour leader he is an electoral liability and will likely deny Labour victory - again. That's the whole point of the thread...
    That's the other one
    Given I'm the OP, it's my thread so that definitely is the point ;)
    Are you goo too?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,734
    edited November 2019
    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    You've just explained how we have got to where we are in terms of debt.

    See Greece for an example of a country that went too far. And watch Italy for a country that is headed that way.
    I've found some more figures: make that 75 years. Seems pretty sustainable to me. Greece's receipts are similar to ours (as % of GDP) but their spending is 10-12% of GDP higher than ours. If Javid or McDonnell announced spending of an extra £700bn per year then we might be close to a Greek situation.

    But they're not.
    I think you're being a bit optimistic. Our GDP is around £2 trillion so 10% of that is £200 billion. Which is less than the cost of the Labour nationalisation promise for starters. Latest estimates of Labour's total spending plans are up to £1.2 trillion extra over 5 years.

    And then there's the assumption that borrowing rates will stay the same - whereas they are likely to rise if Labour gets in. And that our income will stay the same which its unlikely to with Labour's business unfriendly policies.

    It is not a viable long term strategy.

    Being Greece without the sunshine is not a good prospect - but if you really want it, vote Labour.
    Japan is more comparable to the U.K. than Greece - at least for now - for any number of reasons.

    That’s deep into double annual GDP in debt and they can’t get inflation however much they try.

    In so many ways the Western world has followed Japan in how its economies have behaved - just a decade later.

    Dillow understands this better than most having been chief economist of a Japanese bank for 10 years
  • thecycleclinic
    thecycleclinic Posts: 395
    edited November 2019
    The promises sound like pie in the sky. Voters will either disappointed post election or pointing fingers saying we told you so. No party is talking about electoral reform, devolution or other reforms to bring government closer to the people/make votes count. All parties think the solution to our problems is for central government to go on a spending spree which will mean more centralised control.

    It's quite depressing really.
    www.thecycleclinic.co.uk
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Has the thread title already handed victory to Corbyn?

    Why does the official Conservative party twitter feed keep posting videos of Corbyn saying how the number of GPs has gone down under the Tories? It's a weird strategy to promote his main attack for him.

    Not really, as compared to a moderate Labour leader he is an electoral liability and will likely deny Labour victory - again. That's the whole point of the thread...
    That's the other one
    Given I'm the OP, it's my thread so that definitely is the point ;)
    Are you goo too?
    I'm referring to the Labour party thread.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Please can as many of you take my survey
    thanks
    https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2GMP8KT
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538

    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    You've just explained how we have got to where we are in terms of debt.

    See Greece for an example of a country that went too far. And watch Italy for a country that is headed that way.
    I've found some more figures: make that 75 years. Seems pretty sustainable to me. Greece's receipts are similar to ours (as % of GDP) but their spending is 10-12% of GDP higher than ours. If Javid or McDonnell announced spending of an extra £700bn per year then we might be close to a Greek situation.

    But they're not.
    I think you're being a bit optimistic. Our GDP is around £2 trillion so 10% of that is £200 billion. Which is less than the cost of the Labour nationalisation promise for starters. Latest estimates of Labour's total spending plans are up to £1.2 trillion extra over 5 years.

    And then there's the assumption that borrowing rates will stay the same - whereas they are likely to rise if Labour gets in. And that our income will stay the same which its unlikely to with Labour's business unfriendly policies.

    It is not a viable long term strategy.

    Being Greece without the sunshine is not a good prospect - but if you really want it, vote Labour.
    Japan is more comparable to the U.K. than Greece - at least for now - for any number of reasons.

    That’s deep into double annual GDP in debt and they can’t get inflation however much they try.

    In so many ways the Western world has followed Japan in how its economies have behaved - just a decade later.

    Dillow understands this better than most having been chief economist of a Japanese bank for 10 years
    There are differences however which are important.
    - First off, the lack of growth and lack of inflation mean that returns on Japanese bonds are minimal or negative.
    - Second, the large part of the national debt is held domestically - around 70% by the bank of Japan and a lot of the rest by Japanese banks and trust funds IIRC.

    However it is not without risk in the long term.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • The promises sound like pie in the sky. Voters will either disappointed post election or pointing fingers saying we told you so. No party is talking about electoral reform, devolution or other reforms to bring government closer to the people/make votes count. All parties think the solution to our problems is for central government to go on a spending spree which will mean more centralised control.

    It's quite depressing really.

    They think a spending spree is the solution to their (not our) problem.

    No party who wins power will instigate electoral reform

  • Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    You've just explained how we have got to where we are in terms of debt.

    See Greece for an example of a country that went too far. And watch Italy for a country that is headed that way.
    I've found some more figures: make that 75 years. Seems pretty sustainable to me. Greece's receipts are similar to ours (as % of GDP) but their spending is 10-12% of GDP higher than ours. If Javid or McDonnell announced spending of an extra £700bn per year then we might be close to a Greek situation.

    But they're not.
    I think you're being a bit optimistic. Our GDP is around £2 trillion so 10% of that is £200 billion. Which is less than the cost of the Labour nationalisation promise for starters. Latest estimates of Labour's total spending plans are up to £1.2 trillion extra over 5 years.

    And then there's the assumption that borrowing rates will stay the same - whereas they are likely to rise if Labour gets in. And that our income will stay the same which its unlikely to with Labour's business unfriendly policies.

    It is not a viable long term strategy.

    Being Greece without the sunshine is not a good prospect - but if you really want it, vote Labour.
    Japan is more comparable to the U.K. than Greece - at least for now - for any number of reasons.

    That’s deep into double annual GDP in debt and they can’t get inflation however much they try.

    In so many ways the Western world has followed Japan in how its economies have behaved - just a decade later.

    Dillow understands this better than most having been chief economist of a Japanese bank for 10 years
    I thought Japan’s central problem was demographic
  • Have I missed the debate about Boris seemingly p1ssed at some business do in NI?
  • Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Has the thread title already handed victory to Corbyn?

    Why does the official Conservative party twitter feed keep posting videos of Corbyn saying how the number of GPs has gone down under the Tories? It's a weird strategy to promote his main attack for him.

    Not really, as compared to a moderate Labour leader he is an electoral liability and will likely deny Labour victory - again. That's the whole point of the thread...
    That's the other one
    Given I'm the OP, it's my thread so that definitely is the point ;)
    Are you goo too?
    I'm referring to the Labour party thread.
    Yes. Don't know why. Very confusing when I wasn't.

    This thread title now says that labour are going to bankrupt the UK. Only one way that's happening!
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 51,360

    Have I missed the debate about Boris seemingly p1ssed at some business do in NI?

    Being contrary to an other in the cabinet?
    I followed it in the news last night.

    Silly 20p for the swearbox er
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • The promises sound like pie in the sky. Voters will either disappointed post election or pointing fingers saying we told you so. No party is talking about electoral reform, devolution or other reforms to bring government closer to the people/make votes count. All parties think the solution to our problems is for central government to go on a spending spree which will mean more centralised control.

    It's quite depressing really.

    They think a spending spree is the solution to their (not our) problem.

    No party who wins power will instigate electoral reform

    True which is why we are going to get fucked again.
    www.thecycleclinic.co.uk
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,538

    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    rjsterry said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    Stevo_666 said:

    https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2019/11/resilience-and-selection.html

    If truth is the first casualty of war, social science is the first casualty of election campaigns. So it was with Sajid Javid’s speech yesterday. He claimed that Labour will tax everybody more, “saddle the next generation with debt”, “ruin your finances” and would be “letting prices run wild in the shops.”

    All this is silly hyperbole.

    I say so not just because, as Simon says. Labour’s spending plans are more sustainable than the Tories because it will not inflict a damaging Brexit upon the economy.

    Instead, there are two other reasons why Javid is wrong.Javid

    One is that developed economies are resilient. They just don’t tip swiftly from prosperity to ruin. For one thing, high debt (even if we get it) is no barrier (pdf) to decent economic growth. Also, as Eric Lonergan says, “inflation is truly dead, and policy makers don’t need to worry about it.” Governments and central banks have struggled to raise inflation despite trying. It would be odd if Mr McDonnell had powers unknown to the ECB or Bank of Japan. And we must remember the finding of John Landon-Lane and Peter Robertson, that government policies don’t usually change trend growth by very much – a result that is comforting as well as dispiriting.

    Adam Smith was bang right. There is a great deal of ruin in a nation. Countries can cope with bad policies. Those on the right who say the UK (well, actually Britain) can survive leaving the EU therefore have a point. But you cannot easily claim that the economy is resilient to changes in trading rules but ultra-vulnerable to moderate differences in fiscal policy and taxes.

    There is, however, another reason why economies aren’t ruined by bad policy. It’s that such policies don’t persist. They get reversed. Examples of this include Mitterrand’s “austerity turn” in 1983 and Syriza's acceptance of EU-imposed austerity in 2015. But we have also seen examples under the Tories. Thatcher abandoned M3 targets and fiscal austerity in the mid-80s: cyclically adjusted net borrowing rose from a small surplus in 1981-82 to 2.8% of GDP in 1983-84. And Major pulled the UK out of the ERM in 1992.

    Liberal democratic capitalism, then, selects against bad policies. Ones which damage the economy egregiously get reversed. If Labour’s policies are as bad as Javid claims (arguendo!) the correct inference is not that Labour will ruin the nation, but that Mr McDonnell will disappoint his supporters as so many of his predecessors have done.
    so this whole hypothesis is based upon the assumption that inflation will not return to it's historical rates

    Within reason. Japan hasn’t managed to do it. All the scaremongering about QE hasn’t resulted in it.

    The guy’s a well respected economist. Knows more than we do.
    There are plenty of respected economists who disagree with his view. The EU also seems to disagree and they are usually right, aren't they?
    Not the ones I’ve come across tbf.

    German policy is a political choice no one based on economics. Tonnes of studies into why that’s the case if you can be arsed to read them.
    Sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with a knowledge and understanding of finance and economics that a country cannot just go on building up debt indefinitely that I'm really not sure what there is to debate or why you are in denial about it.
    And yet government spending has averaged about 40% of GDP while tax receipts average 35% of GDP for at least the last 50 years.
    You've just explained how we have got to where we are in terms of debt.

    See Greece for an example of a country that went too far. And watch Italy for a country that is headed that way.
    I've found some more figures: make that 75 years. Seems pretty sustainable to me. Greece's receipts are similar to ours (as % of GDP) but their spending is 10-12% of GDP higher than ours. If Javid or McDonnell announced spending of an extra £700bn per year then we might be close to a Greek situation.

    But they're not.
    I think you're being a bit optimistic. Our GDP is around £2 trillion so 10% of that is £200 billion. Which is less than the cost of the Labour nationalisation promise for starters. Latest estimates of Labour's total spending plans are up to £1.2 trillion extra over 5 years.

    And then there's the assumption that borrowing rates will stay the same - whereas they are likely to rise if Labour gets in. And that our income will stay the same which its unlikely to with Labour's business unfriendly policies.

    It is not a viable long term strategy.

    Being Greece without the sunshine is not a good prospect - but if you really want it, vote Labour.
    Japan is more comparable to the U.K. than Greece - at least for now - for any number of reasons.

    That’s deep into double annual GDP in debt and they can’t get inflation however much they try.

    In so many ways the Western world has followed Japan in how its economies have behaved - just a decade later.

    Dillow understands this better than most having been chief economist of a Japanese bank for 10 years
    I thought Japan’s central problem was demographic
    That is certainly a big issue for them as it will exacerbate their debt problem.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • thecycleclinic
    thecycleclinic Posts: 395
    edited November 2019
    Japan has a multitude of problems. We also have a demographic time bomb in the works.
    www.thecycleclinic.co.uk
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 51,360

    Japan has a multitude of problems. We also have a demographic time bomb in the works.

    I disagree. After Brexit, the poor and the old will die off quickly.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,691

    Have I missed the debate about Boris seemingly p1ssed at some business do in NI?

    Not much to debate is there?It's already normal for the Prime Minister to casually, obviously and transparently lie to people's faces, which is a new low. You can certainly see why his team don't want to let him out in public. By the looks on the audience's faces if they hadn't already realised the current government couldn't GAF about them, this made it crystal clear.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition