A good time for bad news

[asperity]

http://tinyurl.com/lvzsfk

 

It seems they are hoping this will all be forgotten by the time they get back from their 12 week summer holidays.

[observer]

It doesn't take a genius to work out that borrowing in order to stimulate the economy will produce record debts - believe the Yanks are $trillions in the red. It is self evident that the bailing out of the banks and efforts to maintain employment in the short term, will require a pay back, possibly over several generations. The question is, for the next General Election: To what degree do you want cuts in Government services and consequest job losses, in order to reduce the budget deficit? Every job loss, turns a tax-payer into a tax-consumer, as evident from the Times article. So, we're back to the fundemental choice: High taxation (IMO of the rich) in order to retain a semblence of economic and social stability, with some maintainance of services OR Low taxation (of the rich), thus requiring swinging cuts in services and Gov spending, in order to begin repaying the deficit. Both options will be painfull, but one will be more painfull for the many rather than the few.

[disgusted]

I think there should be cutbacks in your use of smileys, which have reached new levels of annoyance lately.

[Paul Kennedy]

It doesn't take a genius to work out that borrowing in order to stimulate the economy will produce record debts - believe the Yanks are $trillions in the red.

 

The UK is a very much smaller economy, yet our public debts are believed to be well over ?1 trillion and rising fast. Our economy (GDP) is about ?1.6 trillion.

[observer]

We face a stark choice, as we enter a period of austerity; as to whether the pain will fall on the many or the few.

[asperity]

Surely the socialist ideal would be for the pain to fall on everybody equally

[observer]

Got it wrong again Asp: the pain (taxation) should fall on those most able to pay, thus be proportional to one's means. Alas, as throughout history, the knights on their horses can flee the battle leaving the PBI to be slaughtered!

[Peter T]

Got it wrong again Asp: the pain (taxation) should fall on those most able to pay, thus be proportional to one's means.

 

Is that not a deterrent to people who work hard?

I thought that the number of super rich who would warrant high taxes (according to you) wouldn't make very much difference to things.

[Evil Sid]

is this shortfall due the economic climate or have people just found a few more loopholes in the system to avoid paying the taxes

[observer]

It's not "the numbers" involved Peter, but the amount of wealth owned/controlled; historically we have around 10% of the population controlling 90% of of it's wealth; normally, through creative accountancy and tax loop-holes, such folk pay less than 10% tax - so no wonder we've witnessed the growth of the widest wealth gap under NuLab since the time of Dickens. Conversly, an EU report has just placed UK pensioners as the fourth highest in the European League of poverty - despite the free bus pass! Cameron is accepting, that swinging cuts in Gov spending are required, but is now adding that "fairness" needs to be applied - fine words, but alas, "fairness" isn't in the nature of the Tory beast (as we know from experience). Yes, we've suffered the "live now, pay later" culture fostered by Brown and Co, eagerly taken up by the banks and the "I want in now" generation - but the cure is "the hair of the dog that bit you"; NOT cold turkey. The banks, despite the huge tax-payer bail-outs, are drawing in their horns and increasing mortgage interest rates well above the Bof E base rate; thus many small/medium companies are going to the wall. Whilst, in the long term, a balanced budget mentality is what we should strive for; it will take decades to reach IF a responsible and less traumatic path to recovery is chosen, any sudden surge (as advocated by the Tories) will cause deep financial trauma - turning much needed tax-payers into tax-consumers - so be carefull what you vote for, you might get it.