2024 Election thread
Comments
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Not sure that growth levels in several major EU nations support that. Take Germany or Italy for example.
Higher taxes = less for business to invest to create growth.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
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Look at a a slightly longer period.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
You mean, Italy started doing well when they gave up post GFC austerity? :)
I don't think you'll find much of a correlation between economic performance and taxes.
Ultimately, taxes are just about how you pay for sh!t. Overrated.
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Are you holding up Italy as a model of good economic management and strong growth?
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
I think when a comparable country changes economic tact and starts growing, it's worth paying attention to, yes.
Italy is quite interesting as it's the oldest population in Europe, and is constrained with an already high government debt level, so seeing success within those constraints is worth thinking about.
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As I’ve remarked many times before, for the Conservatives planning is a classic case of the Juncker curse, named after the former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker; we know what has to be done, we just don’t know how to get re-elected afterwards. And yet liberalisation of planning constraints is a key precondition to improving the performance of the UK economy, as well as to answering the undersupply in the housing market from which so many of the nation’s other complaints stem. Happily for Labour, it is perfectly placed to tread where the Conservative Party dare not go with let-rip housing, industrial and infrastructure development. It loses few if any votes by freeing up the system to allow such an onslaught.
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0.,6% growth for 2024 is doing well?
In any event, the debt chickens will come home to roost at some in Italy point.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
On the other hand, if public infrastructure is there and working, the cost of doing business is lower in the first place.
As a specific example, not that long ago our office was on Farringdon Road. When we moved there, almost unbelievably the nearest fibre broadband was half a mile away at King's Cross. We had the option of paying for running a new connection under the road for that distance or paying for a rooftop antenna for 'Wibre' which was cheaper but still ridiculously pricey for such a basic utility.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
BUILD!
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
that in the final three months of 2023, the economy was 4.2 per cent from the level in Q4 2019, before the pandemic. This is the best recovery of any major European economy and it is about double the pace registered in France and the UK over the same period. It is also much stronger than the no-growth registered in Germany
(Should read the rest, Stevo...)
Before you double-check that we’re talking about Italy — the long-term stagnant economy — it’s worth keeping in mind that the unusually strong performance is largely explained by the “super bonus”, the generous tax relief on home improvements introduced in 2020. It’s difficult to grasp the enormousness of this measure. Italy’s investment, which includes housing, is up 30 per cent compared with Q4 2019, before the pandemic, the fastest rate ever recorded in the country since comparable data began in 2000.
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Not sure what part of the industry you're in, but is this willingness to build lots good for your business?
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So it was largely down to a generous tax break then. Thanks 😊
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Yes.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
*comment moved to other thread
“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
For those who Xit, this is a fun thread:
tl;dr - seems she might be too racist (or too explicitly racist) even for Reform.
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“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
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I was surprised he didn't push the doctor argument a bit further and ping back the names thrown at him and ask if Cole thought if a doctor shouldn't have treated them if they needed treatment. Still, good to see Starmer demonstrating his ability to discuss stuff without a script without resorting to soundbite and mindless repetition as a fallback, like most politicians do these days.
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It's quite refreshing, as a hot head myself, to see him not get wound up by it, like BoJo, Truss, Sunak etc would.
You can see it in Cole's face that he knows he's wrong, but he's just going for the attack soundbite regardless. Which I guess entirely what you'd expect from a Sun journalist.
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That Harry Cole chap is just the sort of white, fat, ignorant, indignant city type that makes me so proud to be British.
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It's probably why he did quite well in his previous job. He's lacking in charisma (he'll never be an Obama), but I hope (probably in vain) that he'll allow himself to work more without a script, especially in the HoC, as it would make it much more interesting, and he comes over as much less robotic when not reading a script.
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Yeah, a barrister should be able to cope with awkward questions. That said Suella Braverman provided a counterpoint to that opinion. The Times have an interesting take on that interview
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Politicians cannot pander to the electorate on every issue, because most people making up the electorate are unintelligent and uninformed. This is one of those issues where a grown up just needs to explain how it is.
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Parallels have been drawn with the Canadian Conservatives' wipe-out. I guess that Stevo's message of "Well Labour might be worse!" isn't gaining much traction. I think most people, including a lot of one-time Tory supporters, just want this lot to be obliterated so that they can go off into the desert and do some navel gazing and to come back as something honest and potentially competent. I really don't think voters care too much at the moment who Labour are, or whether Rayner might have goofed over £3k of CGT, given the billions the Tories have carelessly spaffed or intentionally given to mates. It won't harm Labour's chances that people like Houchen are still at it, and Sunak is sucking up to foreign and racist mega donors. If there are opportunities for rubbish signalling, Tories are taking them without fail.
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