Which industries would you re-nationalise?

[puisseguin]

Just a thought here.

 

Is't the UK on the verge of bankrupcy with a £trillion of government debt and a current budget deficit of around £150 billion? I thought that was what the current proposed cuts were designed to tackle.

 

I'm not sure that it is a really good move to dig out the old national credit card and borrow even more money in order to buy a load of industries for the Nation. You only have to look at Ireland and Greece to see how escalating interest rates on out of control debts can bring a country to its knees in a matter of weeks.

[puisseguin]

 

 

I remember as a kid I used to pay 2p fare...

 

But how much did everyone else pay so that you could?

[spooky3]

I am just glad I don't have to travel into London ever day, by train. What a nightmare.

 

mmm... Trains, I can't stand commuting. I used to take the slow train to Huddersfield rather than a speedy one into Leeds and back out even though it was colder and longer.

 

 

 

Why, oh why are we not investing in maglev (magnetic levitation) trains. The current trains will always have limitations in terms of speed and safety. Yes, in a time of absolute war maglevs wouldn't be independent of the grid, but how likely is that?

 

Which brings me onto, why haven't we built any more nuclear power stations yet? They take long enough to build anyway. We're being held to ransom by foreign countries for our fuel prices. Their eco-friendly too (except for waste, and surely someone can come up with a good use for that?).

[L00b]

Not that they were nationalised before, but the pharmaceutical industry.

 

We have top world class universities with students doing hypothetical research (or sponsored), and the drug companies who charge unbelievable prices for drugs based on R&D costs.

You no making sense

 

Who do you think finances the said universities and students in the biomed field? Yep, these same drug companies (their R&D costs include financing universities and students).

 

For £1000 spent R&D on 100 products, 1 product will make it big (after years and years of approval testing after the R&D), the respective R&D of which amounts to £10. How is a business supposed to survive if it doesn't recoup the £990 loss on the other 99 failed products?

 

On-topic, I do agree about utilities, though, and I would add insurance (since this industry seems to have been doing for years, exactly what the private utilities are in crosshairs at the moment for).

[harvey19]

But how much did everyone else pay so that you could?

 

10 pence in Sheffield for all journeys.

[spooky3]

But how much did everyone else pay so that you could?

 

A lot more people used buses back then, maybe because they were paying for them?

 

Why is the tax payer paying £8 billion for extra trains when it's only the well off who really use them. (i.e. worth the journey for the extra cash). And their private businesses!

 

Well it's cheaper to run a car now than it is to use public transport. If there's two or three of you it's just as cheap to use a taxi than use the bus. And I live on the outskirts.

[spooky3]

You no making sense

 

Who do you think finances the said universities and students in the biomed field? Yep, these same drug companies (their R&D costs include financing universities and students).

 

For £1000 spent R&D on 100 products, 1 product will make it big (after years and years of approval testing after the R&D), the respective R&D of which amounts to £10. How is a business supposed to survive if it doesn't recoup the £990 loss on the other 99 failed products?

 

OK, so then look at exactly that same scenario, but consider 100 companies all doing R&D in the same area. How does the maths add up when unified?

[mj.scuba]

Just a thought here.

 

Is't the UK on the verge of bankrupcy with a £trillion of government debt and a current budget deficit of around £150 billion? I thought that was what the current proposed cuts were designed to tackle.

 

I'm not sure that it is a really good move to dig out the old national credit card and borrow even more money in order to buy a load of industries for the Nation. You only have to look at Ireland and Greece to see how escalating interest rates on out of control debts can bring a country to its knees in a matter of weeks.

 

They wouldn't necessarily have to run on a not-for-profit basis just because they're nationalised, so the Treasury could actually make money in the long run.

[Hairyloon]

Not that they were nationalised before, but the pharmaceutical industry.

Medicine should be done by an international cooperative.

How much more would we learn if all that research was shared instead of being kept secret?

 

But I would not nationalise any industries. I don't trust the government to wipe their own bottoms, never mind run important industries.

 

But all the utilities and transport should be run for service, not profit. Possibly that means they should be publically owned, but the government should have no part in running them.

[spooky3]

Medicine should be done by an international cooperative.

How much more would we learn if all that research was shared instead of being kept secret?

 

Some of the prices here are ridiculous, but on a world scale the differences are unbelievable! Never mind the breaking of patent laws upon life saving medicine.