100 Economists tell George he's wrong.

[Mecky]

George Osborne is a cockosaurus but let's be honest, economists are little better than fortune tellers.

 

hardly worth their while is it?

[Carlito]

The UK has effectively been in recession since 2008. Oh we had a 2% boost to GDP at the cost of £200 million of quantitative easing

 

Bank of England quantitative easing 'boosted GDP'

 

But growth paid for by money created out of thin air (and not worth the paper it's not printed on) isn't real growth (but try telling these "100 leading economists" and trollish clowns like Wednesday1 that).

 

Can you really solve the biggest debt crisis in history with still more debt?

 

If money printing is such a panacea for economic ills, why doesn't the government just install a money printer in every house so that we can just print off whatever we need to buy stuff?

 

After all, what's the worst that could happen?

 

If money printing was indeed the answer there wouldn't be a poor country on earth and Zimbabwe would be an economic powerhouse.

 

Do you think the £ will end up hyperinflating then Vague Boy?

[JFKvsNixon]

Do you think the £ will end up hyperinflating then Vague Boy?

 

I think that the only way out of the sovereign debt problem is either inflation, if this controlled successfully then it'll also wipe out personal debts as well, or a revaluation of the Euro.

[andyofborg]

I think that the only way out of the sovereign debt problem is either inflation, if this controlled successfully then it'll also wipe out personal debts as well, or a revaluation of the Euro.

 

how will revaluing the euro help?

[JFKvsNixon]

how will revaluing the euro help?

 

Sorry I didn't make it clear, I meant devalue the currencies of the countries under threat. This is just a hunch at the moment.

 

The under performing economies may be encouraged to leave the Euro, recreate their currency at a devalued rate which would encourage their economy to grow via cheaper exports.

 

The remaining Euro Zone countries will merge their economies much closer into a United States of Europe consolidating their tax and spending policies. The countries that are forced out/left the Euro Zone will be readmitted when they have sorted out their economies under the new terms.

 

The debt is managed via economic growth, German financial support (in return for the closer political links), and the lenders will have to accept a haircut.

[I1L2T3]

Sorry I didn't make it clear, I meant devalue the currencies of the countries under threat. This is just a hunch at the moment.

 

The under performing economies may be encouraged to leave the Euro, recreate their currency at a devalued rate which would encourage their economy to grow via cheaper exports.

 

The remaining Euro Zone countries will merge their economies much closer into a United States of Europe consolidating their tax and spending policies. The countries that are forced out/left the Euro Zone will be readmitted when they have sorted out their economies under the new terms.

 

The debt is managed via economic growth, German financial support (in return for the closer political links), and the lenders will have to accept a haircut.

 

Have you ever read any alternative history, the kind of stuff about what if William had lost at Hastings, what if Napoleon had won at Waterloo etc...

 

I once read an alternative history about what would have happened if Germany had won WWII. You have to take these kind of things with a pinch of salt but in that particular piece the outcome was a kind of united states of Europe by the 1960s. Hitler had died and more moderate leaders had taken his place. To atone for German excesses in WWII states had been handed back some of their autonomy within the federal European state. But they were fiscally and politically unified in an economically rather than warfare driven superstate with Germany at the hub. I read this 20+ years ago. Strange parallels!

[JFKvsNixon]

Have you ever read any alternative history, the kind of stuff about what if William had lost at Hastings, what if Napoleon had won at Waterloo etc...

 

I once read an alternative history about what would have happened if Germany had won WWII. You have to take these kind of things with a pinch of salt but in that particular piece the outcome was a kind of united states of Europe by the 1960s. Hitler had died and more moderate leaders had taken his place. To atone for German excesses in WWII states had been handed back some of their autonomy within the federal European state. But they were fiscally and politically unified in an econoically rather than warfare driven superstate with Germany at the hub. I read this 20+ years ago. Strange parallels!

 

I don't buy into the Germany still wanting to run Europe conspiracy rubbish, I think that this ideology was a Prussian thing, rather than a German thing. I think that it's more a case of Germany wanting their pound of flesh in return for all the money that they'll have to fork out, and that pound of flesh will be tight economic control.

[I1L2T3]

I don't buy into the Germany still wanting to run Europe conspiracy rubbish, I think that this ideology was a Prussian thing, rather than a German thing. I think that it's more a case of Germany wanting their pound of flesh in return for all the money that they'll have to fork out, and that pound of flesh will be tight economic control.

 

I not suggesting there's any conspiracy, just commenting on the outcome. If they have that tight economic control greater political power comes with it. Unavoidable.

[JFKvsNixon]

I not suggesting there's any conspiracy, just commenting on the outcome. If they have that tight economic control greater political power comes with it. Unavoidable.

 

Sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick, I think your right about the power that comes with the control. The million dollar question is that will the remaining Euro zone countries forgo that independence for stability?

[I1L2T3]

Sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick, I think your right about the power that comes with the control. The million dollar question is that will the remaining Euro zone countries forgo that independence for stability?

 

That is the big question. If I was Greek I'd want to get out of it.