Agree with MF and Phil and would add that it would be even nicer if it were possible on a single wage as it was back in the day. Fantasy I know, but imagine a world where if mum wanted to stay at home and look after the kids she could! Actually mine (missus not mum) does but we can’t afford to do much else 🙂

I saw today that the Greek government has given up even considerign raising more revenue through taxation and has just decided to cut spending instead.

They had a woman from Sweden (or was it Denmark) on the radio the other day askign why she should be asked to work until she’s 70 so that a woman working in the public sector in Greece can retire at 50. This seemed like a good point.

It does feel that, until social provision is ‘harmonized’ across Europe that there will always be a need for the ‘richer’ states to periodically pump money into those that choose to have unaffordable public benefits.

before you know it we’ll be bartering with chickens

Fine by me, I went long on chickens years ago.

The ironic thing is our national debt is higher than Greece’s however our private sector is of course ‘healthy’ enough to support the country.

We’ll also face some difficult choices soon.

I know someone whos is only 28 in a private sector role (not particulary good role either) for 5yrs and already his pension pot is worth £50,000.

He sounds like fun! Lets hope he doesn’t get hit by a bus then. He’d be gutted 😉

im still a bit puzzled why osborne is still in power,
its harsh to judge him when the globalised economy appears to be so screwed
im just puzzled why this photo of him with a call girl and some coke hasnt brought down the chancellor of the exchequer….

….if brown was in this pose when he was chancellor hed have been out on his arse in no time

im just puzzled why this photo of him with a call girl and some coke hasnt brought down the chancellor of the exchequer….

I assume there’s good reason for chucking around accusations of low morals on the part of that lady, and surely it would be a bit odd to have half-crescents of coke cut on a polished table (when lines or bumps on a choppable surface are surely preferred).

Doomed?

I’ve got at least a dozen tins of baked beans in the house, along with some beer, a bottle of malt, my rifle and about a hundred rounds of ammo.

I reckon I’ll be in the clear watching society collapse around me for about a fortnight* 😀

(*note to self, go and buy some more beans on the way home)

it could all be an unfortunate coincidence, she didnt run an escort agency as she claimed
http://order-order.com/2011/09/12/full-audio-of-natalie-rowe-regarding-osborne-coke-coulson/
she is suing notw for hacking her phone though

and george had just spilt some ovaltime he was making for a nightcap after his bubbly and silk cut?

Am I the only one on here who really dont think it is any of my business if Osborne did drugs when he was 22? Barack Obama had a habit at that age and wrote about it.

Or are you just being a tad sanctimonious?

mcboo – it’s only a problem for me if the same people subsequently try and then present themselves as somehow morally ‘pure’.

Although in Osbournes case he’s a wealthy Tory twit and I’m prepared to make something of it on that basis…

I couldn’t give a monkeys what he puts up his hooter. I’m infinitely more concerned about the “NAH! NAH! NAH! I’M NOT LISTENING!!! THERE IS NO PLAN B!!” approach to the economy though. I don’t know what he was expecting to achieve, but its not really going well is it

Growth forecast at the start of the year = 3%
Actual growth = 0.4%

OK good, thats what I thought you said.

The ironic thing is our national debt is higher than Greece’s however our private sector is of course ‘healthy’ enough to support the country.

scary how fast some of these figures are going up

http://nationaldebtclocks.com/greece.htm

http://nationaldebtclocks.com/unitedkingdom.htm

I don’t think we are all doomed, however there’s still an awful long way for this crisis to play on yet. How long is anyone’s guess.

To be honest I feel sorry for the younger generation (in there teens, 20’s and early 30’s). These are the people who seem to be right royally shafted paying for the mess of the previous generation. Lets look at the evidence:

House prices still well out of reach, colossal debts for anyone coming out of university, rents and transport costs rising an an unsustainable rate, very few decent job opportunities.

Can’t condone the rioting in any shape or form but to be honest it’s no wonder the younger generation are pi**ed off.

On a similar note many responsible pensioners have been shafted too. The low base rates designed to keep the greedy overstretched borrowers in their overpriced homes means that pensioners can no longer get any sort of meaningful return on their hard won savings.

What beggars belief about the whole housing thing is that the government keep telling the banks to lend more. It was too much lending that got us into this mess in the first place. It’s the high house prices that are the problem just as much as banks unwillingness to lend and until housing falls to an affordable level then we’re just kicking the can down the road, unable to enter any sort of meaningful recovery.

The government need to learn that recessions and downturns are a normal cycle of things. Trying to artificially prop things up for the sake of a few votes will only lead to more pain in the longer term. Let’s just get the crash over with and we can then start to build a brighter future for all.

I thought this was going to be about that ancient Mayan prediction.

21/12/2012 – end of the world. Would have been better a day before though, me-thinks.

m just puzzled why this photo of him with a call girl and some coke hasnt brought down the chancellor of the exchequer….
…if brown was in this pose when he was chancellor hed have been out on his arse in no time

Obviously because of the ‘left-wing’ press

the government keep telling the banks to lend more. It was too much lending that got us into this mess in the first place.

They’re not listening though, are they? They just keep paying it all to themselves in bonuses instead. Which I’m sure is doing the economy a power of good

it’s only a problem for me if the same people subsequently try and then present themselves as somehow morally ‘pure’.

Although in Osbournes case he’s a wealthy Tory twit and I’m prepared to make something of it on that basis…

Aye + 1 I dont really care tbh but the hypocrisy is what stinks.

Osbourne? What are his credentials for the job? Did he turn round numerous companies and Captain/lead industry in the private sector?

No, he was a career Politician.

Same shit as all of them.

It is all down to his best mate , without him he is nothing…. just think it could by you 😉
Binners for PM

Vince Cable used to be the financial director of Shell. And for about 6-10 years has been the only one worth listening too. On account of usually being right

I wouldn’t trust George Osbourne to run a bath.

Unfortunately, only one of those is presently making policy. The other is being humoured, patronised and ignored. I’m sure it won’t be much consolation to say I told you so after the upcoming financial apocalypse ;(

Me and binners would run a full-on Junter (pronounced ‘hu’nter’).

We’d create medals even more outlandish than Colonel Gadaffi and our body guard would be made up of topless page three models carrying Berreta pistols in holsters strapped to their string bikinis.

I’m not sure what the Saudi’s would make of us on a state visit mind.

Vince Cable used to be the financial director of Shell. And for about 6-10 years has been the only one worth listening too. On account of usually being right

Alistair Darling’s predictions don’t seem that far off in hindsight – pity he was gagged though

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/aug/30/economy.alistairdarling

Sis in laws mate has just gone on maternity leave (full pay) for 9months.

I’d actually have a hair transplant so I could look like Gadaffi, a scouse style barnet, then grow a massive big Saddam style tache to acessorise.

And wear a uniform with massive shoulder pads that you could launch missiles out of

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEXHeTcxQy4&ob=av2e[/video]

Don’t know what all the fuss is about Gideon having a good time. Just a young bloke indulging what comes naturally, isn’t it?

Like Kenny Everett!

That’s exactly the look I was aiming for!!!

Well said:

What beggars belief about the whole housing thing is that the government keep telling the banks to lend more. It was too much lending that got us into this mess in the first place. It’s the high house prices that are the problem just as much as banks unwillingness to lend and until housing falls to an affordable level then we’re just kicking the can down the road, unable to enter any sort of meaningful recovery.

Property values ultimately are what we use to underwrite our debts with, if house prices crash then the collateral of UK Plc suffers and when you’re in hock to the tune of a trillion that’s not a good thing. Why do you think the last government were extremely swift to do bugger all to mitigate the sudden jump in property prices between 1997 and 2002?

I’m sure that house price crash is inevitable as although the market is inelastic, there will have to be a hike in interest rates at some point in the future. Moreover, first time buyers will be saddled with education debts which will put the price of property out of reach for them.

Our chancellor, just like his two prececessors hopes that the debt will fall before the value of the collateral does, which is why the nasties are so keen for the national debt to be drastically reduced before the next parliament.

So………..am I right in saying that the general concensus is that property prices will remain stagnant at best, or slump at worst and it will probably be better to delay buying until at least next year?

first time buyers will be saddled with education debts which will put the price of property out of reach for them.

average salary = £26,000ish, making yer average student loan repayment £40ish/month.

ie, sod all.

less than that £379- ish
Good source here for you in future debates
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14785676#student_finance_form

But as graduates’ income increases, so does the proportion of student loan repayable.

Under the current rules, a Student Loan is repaid at 9% for pay exceeding £1250 per month or £15k pa. These thresholds haven’t been revised since the current student loan was introduced ten years ago. Remember that £15k is worth a hell of a lot less in 2011 than in 2001.

At £26k p/a the current monthly student loan repayment is £82.00

it’s a good job Nick clegg brought in the new repayment scheme then isn’t it…

just think what the next generation of graduates will do with their extra £50/month.

🙂

<dons tin foil hat>
Tories, Labour, LibDem, New Labour, etc etc. Politics and ideology really have little to do with things any more, all the main parties are puppets to the likes of Rothschild and do as they are told. Politics are here to maintain the illusion that we have a choice over who governs us and to divide and distract the population from what is really going on.

If the politicians care what history thinks of them then the best they can hope is that the worst doesn’t happen on their watch, if it does there’s little they can do so they’ll just keep skimming enough off the top to ensure they retire comfortably. Meantime we’re all too busy arguing the t0ss about socialism versus posh Eton toffs.

There’s a reason the Bank of England pension pots were moved to index linked guilts a few years ago, and it wasn’t because they believed what they told us plebs.
<removes tin foil hat and places it reverently on the mantelpiece>

Now, where did I put that tin opener….

yes far better to pay back MUCH more over a longer time than much less over a shorter time
Thanks Nick for breaking your pledge
We have done this before

pass.

Ah, the new scheme… I work in payroll so I’m using current rates for 2011/12 🙂

I would perhaps make the point that the current system’s rates and thresholds have been unchanged for a decade. Will the proposed £21k threshold be subject to annual review as per the personal allowance, or will it still be £21k when the average salary inevitably creeps beyond £35k due to inflationary pressures?

Or they could remain skint for 30 years (or work abroad) and then return safe in the knowledge that their debt will be written off?

[edit] I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Politicians = bastards. The lot of ’em.

I’d ****ing hate to be about twenty now. If you’re from a working class background and have even a bit of modest ambition – a university education, to own your own property, a decent job, I suspect life is going to be very frustrating.

And they wonder why a few people may take up the option of throwing petrol bombs at police. If they haven’t yet, they will be doing soon