taxman Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Good job the current Government are doing something about it. I'd hate to think what the figures would be with all those pesky libraries and lolly-pop men still leaching off the public purse. Government debt all time high But still money for some projects But not libraries. Or school crossing patrols As long as the bankers get their bonuses though I'm sure we'll all be fine, all in it together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Tories will blame Labour. Labour will blame Osborne. But the debt will get higher, and we will have more cuts again this year and next. The vicious circle will continue. I heard Danny Alexander state today the good news is that we are borrowing less this January than we were last January. Hoo Ra! The IMF say Austerity measures on their own wont work (See Greece), but i think they have forgotten that's the remedy they insisted on some 4 years ago when the bumpy ride started. The EU have now decided the big bazooka now needs to be $2 trillion. (Er what!) USofA are in the midst of an election and anyways, they are downgraded to only a double A now, and are still in rehab. Ive got a headache with it all and im off to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forumosaurus Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 But not libraries. Do we really need libraries? Now we have the internet, e-books and such, I really think libraries have been made redundant. Expand the central libraries, ditch the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem1st Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Let it be. What is it in 'relative' terms. Do you accept "bob". 10 bob IOUs shall see you through Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Personal spending was fuelled by debt which meant businesses had a profitable time and they paid taxes on their profits, as people stoped spending, profits fell and in some cases companies make a loss, taxes fall so the government have to cut spending. As they cut spending people lose their jobs, which mean they have less to spend so businesses loose more money and the government receives less tax. The Government are having to borrow more money to make up for the lost taxes, the solution is for households to start borrowing again and spending so companies can make more money and pay more tax. But borrowing money to fuel spending got us into the mess we are in; borrowing money now will put off the inevitable correction for a time, but it won’t fix the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I1L2T3 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Do we really need libraries? Now we have the internet, e-books and such, I really think libraries have been made redundant. Expand the central libraries, ditch the rest. That's pretty much one of the most exclusive policies you can have. Make people use expensive services and gadgets for reading. If they can't afford those they have to travel miles on expensive bus services to get a book. I would say we still need libraries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj.scuba Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Some reason to be optomistic: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16698293 Government debt has risen to a record £1 trillion from £883bn a year ago. The figure was reached after monthly borrowing fell by £2.2bn in December to £13.7bn, official figures show. However, Chancellor George Osborne is still on course to hit his borrowing target for the financial year of £127bn. The total for the year so far stands at £103.3bn. The Office for National Statistics said government tax receipts had been boosted by the bank levy. That was imposed on financial institutions to recoup some of the costs of the financial crisis. The tax take was also boosted by last January's VAT increase from 17.5% to 20%. Meanwhile, central government spending fell by 0.9% as debt reduction measures took effect. The current net debt total of £1.004tn represents 64.2% of UK gross domestic product. The last time the Treasury recorded a surplus was in the 2001/02 financial year when it repaid £243m. A Treasury spokesperson said: "That our national debt has reached more than one trillion pounds simply shows the unsustainable level of spending this country built up over the past few years, and shows why it is critical for our nation's future that we deal decisively with the deficit. "Today's figures show that we are making good progress, with borrowing over £11bn lower than in the same period last year." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Personal spending was fuelled by debt which meant businesses had a profitable time and they paid taxes on their profits, as people stoped spending, profits fell and in some cases companies make a loss, taxes fall so the government have to cut spending. As they cut spending people lose their jobs, which mean they have less to spend so businesses loose more money and the government receives less tax. The Government are having to borrow more money to make up for the lost taxes, the solution is for households to start borrowing again and spending so companies can make more money and pay more tax. But borrowing money to fuel spending got us into the mess we are in; borrowing money now will put off the inevitable correction for a time, but it won’t fix the problem. Thats why we need more government borrowing, but borrowing to invest in projects that will boost the economy & bring a return, not just to refinance debts. Luckily the rates for borrowing are at all time lows & the country still has a great credit rating, but that's under pressure if there's no plan to get any growth back in the economy. I'm thinking about transport, communication & energy infrustructure. Improve roads, rail, internet, electricity generation. If they invested in some infrustructure projects that would allow our businesses to be more efficient when they're completed, then it'd create more jobs while they were being built, get people off the dole & paid for something useful. The workers on those projects would be spending their money with other businesses, who'd spend that money & we get a positive multiplyer effect, rather than a negative multiplyer causing spiralling debt. Once the projects were complete we'd have more efficient businesses. Otherwise things will just keep getting worse. Borrowing & spending on pointless things has a temporary effect, but ultimately it's useless & leaves you worse off. If it's borrowing to invest in projects that will bring a much higher return than the interest you're paying on the loan, then that's pretty sensible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Thats why we need more government borrowing, but borrowing to invest in projects that will boost the economy & bring a return, not just to refinance debts. Luckily the rates for borrowing are at all time lows & the country still has a great credit rating, but that's under pressure if there's no plan to get any growth back in the economy. I'm thinking about transport, communication & energy infrustructure. Improve roads, rail, internet, electricity generation. If they invested in some infrustructure projects that would allow our businesses to be more efficient when they're completed, then it'd create more jobs while they were being built, get people off the dole & paid for something useful. The workers on those projects would be spending their money with other businesses, who'd spend that money & we get a positive multiplyer effect, rather than a negative multiplyer causing spiralling debt. Once the projects were complete we'd have more efficient businesses. Otherwise things will just keep getting worse. Which part of that suggestion hasn't the country gone into debt to pay for over the past 20 years? The problem with debt it spirals out of control and the only way to keep spending to have ever expanding debt. We’ve just enjoyed that affect for the past ten years and it can’t be done indefinably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Inflation, that's all. One day the figure will reach a zillion or whatever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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