What is Happening in the Real Economy ?

Gwrxjr is right..mthe final knife in the back was the note left by the minister when labour left office saying there's no money left...
Labour did a lousy job and left office like they always do..leaving the country in a sorry state.
The current coalition us doing a lousy job, focusing on things that are irrelevant ie gay marriage rather than focusing on things that matter..
I am working harder now and making less money than I was when labour first came into power.
What's the solution.. I have no idea..
I just hope everyone gets by.... My own circle of friends have drawn closer, each of us helping each other wherever possible and making the most of what paying jobs we get..pooling recources rather than buying new when we don't need too...
Good luck to us all
 
Just to add...

The REALLY scary thing about the above situation (i.e. the UK is potless) is that the tool that The Labour Party wanted to employ to drag the UK out of recession was to 'spend our way out' - i.e. borrow even more money to spend to 'stimulate' the economy.

How mental is that? And, as the man on the street simply doesn't like 'austerity measures' or higher taxation (and is used to the fact that the Uk has been living beyond its earnings and means for decades, and hiding this fact by flogging off the family silver under the counter) actually seriously considered electing Labour to implement this mad manisfesto. What a great idea, lets get a short-term boost and a massive long -term greater debt millstone - that'll sort it out!

Its not the fact it was Labour - its the fact that ANY organisation can come up with such a mental proposal and expect to be taken seriously as suitable to run the country and its economy should make us all shudder.

I'm not a Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Monster Raving Loony, UKIP or any other 'party'. I tend to think that anyone who wants to be a politician is either wanting to get his nose in the trough, or so seriously deluded that he thinks he knows better than anyone else how to run the country. Either way, it should be that anyone wanting to be a politician should automatically be excluded from being able to become one IMO. in general i find them all to be self-serving and contemptible, and totally incompetent.

In the meantime, while running the country's economy like the worst spendthrift and naive teenagers, our politicians have seen fit to also behave like we are a vast super-power and open our borders to every waif and stray and give them what little of our taxes doesn't pay their wages, the extra 1.5 million public sector workers Labour hired to make the figures look good, and the vast national debt to feed, house and provide barristers for the incoming immigrants in a style that me and mine have never been able to comprehend (as I'm one of the stupid ones who works for a living in the private sector).

Oh yes, and we mustn't forget our Foreign Aid policy which gives countries like India squillions of pounds when their economy makes ours look like the pathetic maimed and limping near-carcass that it is. Charity is one thing, but all we seem to do is hand over piles of cash and little if any of it makes its way to those who truly need it, instead it disappears in bureaucracy, and is probably keeping an awful lot of politicians in very fine style instead.

Its now too late - the UK has basically been raped and pillaged and is now too far gone to ever be able to recover properly IMO. Its a dreadful shame, but it is difficult for me to find much to be proud about, about broken Britain. Its a shame, but if I won the Lottery Jackpot (or 'Supertax for the Stupid' as my mate calls it) then I think I'd be seriously considering relocating to somewhere else - just like all the money earned and paid here for goods and services that we used to own does.

Rant over (honest this time!):dance:!
 
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I agree that the problem will not improve without alot of pain, however people hate pain and will do whatever to avoid it. Politicians know this and if they promise people that it will all be better by next Tuesday and that everybody will be eating Ice-cream if they get voted in, then the general population will vote them in. After all who wants austerity and pain even if it is the only way out.

The UK will rise again but it will take a long long time, we need to get so desperate as a nation that we are prepared to do almost anything to earn money, even make crappy plastic rubbish as some nations have done to rebuild wealth.

Sadly however, as a nation we are so far away from an acceptance of these facts and it will take decades for it to improve. Thinking that we have the ability to make high-end products but getting the cheaper nations to manufacture them so making good profit for doing little work is a false dream, at best only a few people can do this and only a few more will benefit financially from this type of practice...what about everybody else!
 
There's a saying that I don't know the origin of, or ven the exact wording, but its something along the ,lines of....

"The people get the representation they deserve"

Basically, here in the UK the average man on the street is so apathetic and ignorant of politics and particularly economics that he's just too damned easy to fool. Just get a spin-docter to cook up something basically unimportant in the great scheme of the country's operations and make a massive furore about it (Hunting, Gay Rights etc etc) to misdirect the public and get them to vote on the small things and ignore the big issues (which they dont understand anyway).

As a nation, we are MUCH more ignorant about economics than the rest of Europe. Ask 99% a question about the Balance of payments, Gross Domestic Product, or the effect of interest rates as a means to regulate inflation and the value of currency and you'll be met with a blank stare.

The fact that our politicians are all seen as basically crooks and people who lie whenever their lips are moving, and who will say one thing and then do entirely another has just meant that our collective apathy and feeling of being unable to affect the outcome and that we might as just let them get on with it gets greater and greater.

The truth is that the few that have even the slightest grasp of the situation will always be overwhelmed by those that will vote (say) Labour simply cos they always have, or Lib Dem cos they are nice to Social workers, or Conservative cos they are an employer or because Party A says it'll do more for pensioners, or any other thing that is minor in the big picture.

Pensioners... Right now these guys pretty much control the electorate. Why? Cos its mainly the pensioners that bother to turn out and vote in any numbers (while the rest simply think all Politicians are a waste of space so why bother). The percentage turnouts to vote now are lousy. The thing is, we have this perception that pensioners are wise and have experience and knowledge, and will vote sensibly and with the best interests of the nation at heart. The reality of course is that just as many Pensioners as any other demographic vote about whatever little thing it is that bugs them, and ignores the bigger picture.

So, back to Private Fraser again.... "We're all Doomed!!" :(
 
after 35 years self employed plumber and heating ive gone back to agency work on building sites and im in london no body is spending anything they dont have to when there is work they want it for less than they can get it done by the lituanian odd job man
 
Each day brings some new scandal to show how badly the country is run. The politicians' answer to this all is to become less democratic. The turn-out rate for national, local, by and other (eg police commissioner) elections is dropping in this country but that doesn't shame those who get elected - they forget any promises they made while filling their pockets during their time in office and setting up nice little earners for themselves for afterwards. Parliament has more or less stopped making significant laws anyway - they're mostly made in Europe or by judges at home and abroad. In Europe it's worse - technocrat governments imposed on Italy and Greece, and sod their voters, and the President of Europe nominated by a small cabal, not by popular vote. Yet it could be so different - there's no reason why a popular vote should be sought on many issues; we have the technology. But they wouldn't dare ask us - instead we continue to operate a system set up before steam locomotion or radio was invented, designed for a mainly rural and illiterate electorate. The result is that voters here and across Europe lose faith in the system. We're setting ourselves up for a dictatorship at some time in the near future. We never learn.
 
Its all too late.

The political system is fully furnished with the self-serving, not public-serving. And that now cannot change without something of truly revolutionary and economically disastrous 'upheaval' of some kind.

Why? because there cannot be a shift back toward a more public-serving elected parliament, that's why. How long do you think any elected member who genuinely wanted to truly represent the best interests of his constituency would last amongst the rest of the rabid trough-feeders? They'd turn on him and rend him to shreds before he could upset the status quo and get any more like him in there to spoil the free ride. And that's before the Civil Servants (now THERE'S a misnomer if ever there was one) got hold of the guy!

Many years ago, our local council got a newly elected member just like this - he really wanted to do something positive for the area. At council meetings this guy was a Dove sat in a room full of Ravens. He didn't last long - they made sure he resigned and never sought office again.

The truth of it is that we really can't change the inevitable - which is to let the politicians and the civil servants keep on getting away with murder - we simply cannot stop it, and the collective people are too dense to even have an inkling that anything is wrong - they just know if the pension allowance isn't being put up, or if the price of petrol is being put up more by one lot or the other - nothing more substantial than that.

As has been said, we've devolved much of our parliaments responsibility fro decision-making to Brussels. We still NEED though, something like (not sure the exact multiplier) several TIMES the number of elected politicians to run the UK than the is felt is necessary to run the USA!

We are all being screwed, and there seems there's absolutely nothing we can do about it!
 
landydriver said:
As I said in another thread QE created 375 billion from thin air...thats £6000 for every man/woman/child in the country...and there is nothing to show for it except debt write off.
They can say inflation is 2 what ever % but thats lies..there is a 375bn devaluation going on in the background. Really things are not worth more...its the money thats worth 375bn less. A oz of gold is a oz of gold....it use to cost $500 an oz now its $1500 an oz....but its still 1oz of gold....money is worth much less...375bn in the uk less!!! The ££ is worth less worldwide...all imported stuff (everything) costs more but we can sell abroad for less.
You cant invent money from thin air without inflation (which they say we dont have!!!) or devaluation....so take your pick.
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I never thought of it like that but you're right.

I always viewed it that if whatever I owned could be sold for more money than it had been bought for, then it had risen in value. However it is as you say, the money has devalued, unless everything else had stayed the price it cost before, when the item was originally bought!

I suppose the game is to find something that gains a better return compared to other items over the same period.
 
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The Bright Side of Life

yes maybe all doom and gloom but looking on the bright side we the wild campers tend to be quite good at making money stretch - ie we might not go as far but we make the most of what is out there in terms of freebie parking!!
 
David send me an email so that I then have your email address.

The Kodax works at Wealdstone are a fraction of the size they were years ago, alot of it has been torn down, though if they have built on them in the last year I am unsure as I am no longer in Harrow. I have headed up north to see if it is indeed grim, my conclusion is that there are places in London that are worse!
 
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I grew up closer to Ealing than Harrow, your lads machine sounds like a very tricked missile, your lower-spec'd trackday bike still seems like a rocket-ship compared to the 120 odd horses my bike allegedly pushes out at the wheel and the bevels push out even less. :scared:
 
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And aren't these quiet country roads we've now got just heaven!!!!!!

I put £40 in my Gti on sunday & had a riot around the Lake District! It was sheer bliss :)

Can't wait til summer when I'm back in Scotland with my van!!
 
Typical - the Pembrey meeting is on the same weekend as Morgan's Hereford meet, which I'm down provisionally down for, and the scary half fancies going to as well. These things always clash eh?

But... I like Oulton and its a very nice run from mine up there through mid-Wales, so have the option of going on the bike, or the Van. Its also around my birthday, so I may treat myself :lol-053:

Been to Pembrey to such meetings in the past, and yes they are good racing and good fun. The circuit is good to ride. I did a few track days there, on hopelessly uncompetitive kit, but got some (comparatively) decent lap times and tussles charging around in the fast group on an old Kawa GT750 shaftie (yes, really) and then a Yam FZ750 on cross-plies among the 916's, GRXR600's, SRAD's and Blades around 1996 - 2000. Great fun.

Recall being quite chuffed lapping faster than Tiff Needell testing a new Porsche Boxster, then getting brought down to earth with a bump when Troy Bayliss tested his GSE Duke there and went around in a lap time that would have him lapping me at my best in about 7 laps (hey - its only a 1.5 mile lap and I was on a 1987 bike with about 75Hp on skinny cross-plies, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! :lol-053:).

I'm sure you'll enjoy Pembrey - but make sure you take your winter woollies - like most coastal airfield circuits, the really warm and hot days are very few and far between, and its pretty blowy there a lot of the time.
 
Thanks for all your interesting replies/comments. Sorry to break up the motorbike party Boys but back to the matter in hand !.

sp2boy, GWRXJR & GeoffB alluded to a serious decline before the UK could rise again. About 1990 my old boss, a very erudite character, warned me to watch out for a rise in Islamic fervour - which turned out to be a brilliant prediction 23 years ago !. He also told me that the UK would, & would have to, enter a period of near terminal decline before it could rise again & that I would likely see this happen within my lifetime (I was a lot younger then !) - looks like he could be proved right again.

GWRXJR - you have a refreshing attitude to our politicians if I may say so. Years ago, for a while, I worked as a paid part time Election organiser for a national political party (OK I was young, with strong principles, & stupid !) that prided itself on fairness, equality blah blah etc.. What I saw horrified me - the dishonesty, the greedy grasping venality,the lack of any real nouse or knowledge of how to successfully run a country, the almost complete lack of any real heart-felt concern for the future of our country or it's people. This included various well known names up to & including Cabinet Minister level, I was shocked & appalled & have never taken any professional politician seriously since.
 
mariesnowgoose said:
They play with motorbikes while Rome burns :lol-053: :)

Rock on, lads ;)
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Marie, I try to earn a living from it! :juggle:

However it is difficult when the bikes in question tend to be other people's toy and when they are feeling 'the pinch' that's exactly where they cut back on their spending...the last two years have been challenging!
 
sp2 boy said:
Marie, I try to earn a living from it! :juggle:

However it is difficult when the bikes in question tend to be other people's toy and when they are feeling 'the pinch' that's exactly where they cut back on their spending...the last two years have been challenging!
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'twas only me poking fun! ;)

Nice way to make a living though :)
 
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