tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269067397168966943.post7988211557965898287..comments2023-05-21T13:27:52.157+01:00Comments on Not The Barnet Times: Cameron is frit!Don't Call Me Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13602899129846028170noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269067397168966943.post-66932067468774607622011-10-07T11:24:05.183+01:002011-10-07T11:24:05.183+01:00baarnettThe problem with our credit and store card...baarnett<br><br>The problem with our credit and store card debts is that we are paying eye watering rates of interest. Base rate might be 0.5% but the credit card companies charge up to 25% APR - store cards even higher. In the old days, money lenders would go to jail for usury. The quicker these debts are paid off, the more money that consumers have at their disposal to spend on essentials.<br><br>Many householders transferred their credit card debts to secured loans, lured by the promise of lower interest rates with cash left over for that once in a life time holiday. The holiday that takes you a lifetime to pay for when you factor in the extended repayment terms.<br><br>The suggestion that this is a good time to pay for infrastructure projects is financially sound. It has worked in the past, but is unlikely to work now because the state no longer has the proverbial pot to piss in. Gordon Brown refused to put any money away when the times were good, and the state’s credit card is now maxed out. Borrowing more risks our AAA status which would have a disastrous effect on the cost of financing our existing debts.<br><br>Inflation is good for government deficit reduction, but is a disaster for everyone else - especially retired people who have been experiencing negative interest on their savings (once tax and inflation are taken into account) for the last 3 years. They rely on the interest to supplement their income, which means they now face capital erosion or severe hardship. If Mr Cameron thinks he can a majority without the silver vote, he is utterly deluded.Don't Call Me Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13602899129846028170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269067397168966943.post-21748822427240285992011-10-07T02:49:28.869+01:002011-10-07T02:49:28.869+01:00baarnetThe reason cutting taxes would help boost g...baarnet<br><br>The reason cutting taxes would help boost growth is because if people can keep more of their own money, they can spend it, thereby helping the economy. As you say, lack of demand is a large part of the problem.<br><br>When the government takes money away from people, it tends to waste it - or it ends up being trousered by bankers as bonuses.<br><br>The increase in fuel tax has meant tax revenue has actually gone down as people are forced to cut back. It has been reported that the government have lost millions of pounds in fuel tax revenue due to the sky-high prices. It may seem odd, but lower taxes can actually yield greater revenue as people are encouraged to spend more. High tax just suppresses demandDarkKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16072175356984850816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269067397168966943.post-3245957694624460722011-10-07T01:22:17.325+01:002011-10-07T01:22:17.325+01:00Dark Knight: "Quantitative easing - printing ...Dark Knight: "Quantitative easing - printing money by another name - is the last resort of desperate governments when all other policies have failed."<br><br>Couldn't agree more with you - and George. The Government IS desperate. Everything else HAS failed.<br><br>Or more accurately, all the levers were pulled in 2009 by Pa Broon, and there are no other levers left. (We could go down to one-quarter-of-one-per-cent interest rates, I suppose.)<br><br>Inflation is good for government debt reduction, anyway.<br><br>There are still good reasons to create a new bank out of the bits of the old ones the government owns, with the nearly sole aim of lending to small businesses. But that would take ages.<br><br>But where is the evidence that cutting taxes (except at the bottom end) now would improve things? Maybe rich people are actually working harder already, in order to maintain their post-50%-tax income.<br><br>It is lack of demand that is killing the economy. The quickest way to solve that is intelligent investment by the state. Build Crossrail quicker! Design High-Speed-Two up to Manchester and Leeds as stage one! Build a few by-passes and lots of council houses immediately! But don't reduce whatever the tax take is just now, because every penny will help pay for it.baarnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12301292285255035403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269067397168966943.post-50335334437553921062011-10-07T00:59:54.739+01:002011-10-07T00:59:54.739+01:00Cameron tries to evoke the wartime sprit - without...Cameron tries to evoke the wartime sprit - without understanding what it really involves.<br><br>Perhaps the second-best wartime leader (after Churchill) was Captain Mainwaring from Walmington-on-Sea. He was for ever saying things like "Don't they know there's a war on?" and "We haven't got time for all this red-tape nonsense!"<br><br>The coalition loves red-tape.<br><br>For example - the new proposed EU directive giving women up to 3 hrs a day paid 'breastfeeding' time might sound all well and good, but how will that help the UK compete with eastern economies? And will it actually help women get jobs?<br><br>The only way to boost the economy is to cut tax and cut red tape.<br><br>Quantitative Easing is a fraud. <br><br>As George Osborne rightly said in January 2009: "Quantitative easing - printing money by another name - is the last resort of desperate governments when all other policies have failed."<br><br>http://bit.ly/opG4S1DarkKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16072175356984850816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269067397168966943.post-6082814798485188192011-10-07T00:23:45.796+01:002011-10-07T00:23:45.796+01:00I agree with much of what you say - but the two si...I agree with much of what you say - but the two sides of the main argument are not contradictory.<br><br>We are where we are. <br><br>Personal debt is much too high, but to reduce it quickly would be an economic disaster. Demand would collapse even faster than it is doing already. That is why the original position of the Cameron speech writer had to be changed. I doubt if the retail industry needed to say anything.<br><br>I also doubt if kitchen appliances make much difference to house prices, but agreed, assets must not be paid for beyond their life-span. Actually, that is a good reason for the state to order new roads or railways right now, since the benefit to the economy keeps going for decades. That's a bit too Keynesian for you, perhaps?<br><br>Quantitative easing might well be inflationary, but if the ship is headed for the rocks, you have to use the only way you know to power the ship's pumps. (This analogy could be better.) <br><br>Finally, from economics to politics. Mr Cameron HAD to change the text, because many people are currently utterly unable to pay down debt - and are insulted at the suggestion they can. Yes, it is their own reckless, stupid fault, perhaps, but Mr Cameron needs their votes in 2015.baarnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12301292285255035403noreply@blogger.com