andygardener Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 This country is paying £446 million a day on our debts... (ref) So giving away £1 billion over 4 years is two days worth of payments! Surely? Personally I would question that a country paying £446 mil a day in payments on our debts alone is "wealthy" and whether it can afford to give away any money. If I have a massive house, fancy furniture and a 100 grand credit card bill and 2 million mortgage which i'm paying with my credit card am I wealthy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vague_Boy Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 This country is paying £446 million a day on our debts... (ref) So giving away £1 billion over 4 years is two days worth of payments! Surely? As the Americans would say, "chump change". There was a time when a billion pounds was a lot of money. Then we debased the hell out of Sterling, as this chart shows. Just what happened in 1914 to set that tailspin crash in the value of Sterling in motion? Simple, we came off the gold standard so that we could print enough money to pay for World War I. And we've been printing away ever since. (Note how the purchasing power of the pound remained constant for almost 200 years prior to 1914, then plummeted. Erosion of purchasing power is a sign of inflation in the system.) The long and tragic history of the pound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinz Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Would be nice to see the ruling and financially elite in this country plough the billions in off-shore accounts back into our own economy too. If the individual Brit can do it through their taxes I'm sure the super 10% could dig deeper, after all we're all in it together for the 'Bigger society'. Just realised I'd had one whisky to many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky3 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Personally I would question that a country paying £446 mil a day in payments on our debts alone is "wealthy" and whether it can afford to give away any money. If I have a massive house, fancy furniture and a 100 grand credit card bill and 2 million mortgage which i'm paying with my credit card am I wealthy? There's been many a time i'm in debt, struggling until the end of the month, whatever, but i've still bought a Big Issue, or thrown something into a tin. Not many in this country has ever... starved. TBH, there was a period in my life where I did, but not because of anything's fault other than my own. We may not be rolling in it, we may not even actually have the money, but we are in a position still to do something... What's the difference, we are in debt for another two days? Maybe not, maybe those we help in India yield a single scientist who develops a cure for all cancer, who knows... My sanity and reasoning says no, but my empathy says why not! There are a lot of other daft things we waste a lot more on, at least this is for the greater good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadingNorth Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 At the moment we're a ten bob millionaire living on the credit card. Wealth is exactly that, assets far in excess of liabilities. We sadly are not in that position at the moment. Would you argue with the fact that currently every penny we give away in foreign aid has to be borrowed? The country's wealth is vastly, vastly in excess of its liabilities. The Government is in a huge amount of debt, which can only be dealth with by raising more in taxation or spending less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinz Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 There's been many a time i'm in debt, struggling until the end of the month, whatever, but i've still bought a Big Issue, or thrown something into a tin. Not many in this country has ever... starved. TBH, there was a period in my life where I did, but not because of anything's fault other than my own. We may not be rolling in it, we may not even actually have the money, but we are in a position still to do something... What's the difference, we are in debt for another two days? Maybe not, maybe those we help in India yield a single scientist who develops a cure for all cancer, who knows... My sanity and reasoning says no, but my empathy says why not! There are a lot of other daft things we waste a lot more on, at least this is for the greater good! These are very noble sentiments and I agree wholeheartedly. What I would like to see is the same sentiments applied to our own country. We need to invest and develop. The UK has become a nation of shakers and movers, if it's worth anything sell it, if we develop anything sell it, usually at cost to the tax payer, and the betterment of the shareholder. If investment can cure cancer then in all reality who cares who develops it as long as everyone benefits, but it would be nice to see it developed here instead of elsewhere because we acquired through a shift in thinking. We're a small country, we don't have endless assets to wither away. Personally I think we have to start thinking like China and India. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky3 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 These are very noble sentiments and I agree wholeheartedly. What I would like to see is the same sentiments applied to our own country. We need to invest and develop. The UK has become a nation of shakers and movers, if it's worth anything sell it, if we develop anything sell it, usually at cost to the tax payer, and the betterment of the shareholder. If investment can cure cancer then in all reality who cares who develops it as long as everyone benefits, but it would be nice to see it developed here instead of elsewhere because we acquired through a shift in thinking. We're a small country, we don't have endless assets to wither away. Personally I think we have to start thinking like China and India. Well as said on QT earlier, we can't compete with manufacturing costs, unless we robotise. In reflection, probably use Japan as a blueprint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I wouldn't give one penny in aid to any country which has nuclear weapons. Not that I have a problem with nuclear deterrence, but if you say you can't afford to feed your own people but you still spend money on sophisticated weaponry, you don't need any money from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinz Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Well as said on QT earlier, we can't compete with manufacturing costs, unless we robotise. In reflection, probably use Japan as a blueprint? Oh god I wouldn't even try to compete on a manufacturing basis. I was thinking more sciences, technologies. The main problem I see is the lack of ethos between government and people, we seem terribly fragmented. I'm surrounded by very bright people on a daily basis, this country is awash with intellect, it just seems to lack Oomph, cohesion. It's as if we're a living thing without a head. Good companies need good business wo/men, good nations need good leaders. I think our leaders show a great deal of lack of respect for its people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 A point on Question time. £3billion to India's poorest. When we could help youth unemployment here. Can't help but think of Mukesh Ambani... http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=657820 But with fellow citizens like Mukesh, the Indians need all the help they can get! and we are right to help these people whom are literally starving to death. The caste system there is very overbearing! Makes you wonder why they have an Indian government doesn't it? I hate to say this but why should we in this country work our fingers to the bone to bail out a bunch of foreign free loaders intnent on taking work from us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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