Who owes Ireland's massive debt mountain?

[Arrr Sez I]

this was always followed by a coy smile from behind a lace hanky.

 

That wasn't the sixties cuttsie, more like 1812. Honestly where are you lot getting this stuff from? You all must be way over 70 to be coming out with these terribly old fashioned views and perceptions of acceptable modern day behaviour. I know mj is knocking on a bit now as he mentioned his brother built the Titanic, I think it was his brother, maybe it was him. It was probably him. No wonder it sunk.

 

---------- Post added 23-06-2013 at 11:56 ----------

 

Would you wish all English people to be judged by those who appear on the Jeremy Kyle programme.

 

Look, I call it like I see it. I have never met an Irish person that didn't match up exactly to the characters on the TV shows I've seen. If I do, I'll update the thread. Can't say fairer than that. I like Irish people, no problem with them at all, but it is what it is. Watch the show Monday night, don't shoot the messenger.

[Rupert_Baehr]

... On the last occasion this happened a mod had a complete sense of humour failure & deleted a load of posts.

 

...

 

You're lucky that particular Mod didn't catch you ... You could've found yourself in a non-voluntary 'arranged marriage' by now.

 

(S)he has a long record if 'issuing banns'.

[cuttsie]

That wasn't the sixties cuttsie, more like 1812. Honestly where are you lot getting this stuff from? You all must be way over 70 to be coming out with these terribly old fashioned views and perceptions of acceptable modern day behaviour. I know mj is knocking on a bit now as he mentioned his brother built the Titanic, I think it was his brother, maybe it was him. It was probably him. No wonder it sunk.

 

---------- Post added 23-06-2013 at 11:56 ----------

 

 

Look, I call it like I see it. I have never met an Irish person that didn't match up exactly to the characters on the TV shows I've seen. If I do, I'll update the thread. Can't say fairer than that. I like Irish people, no problem with them at all, but it is what it is. Watch the show Monday night, don't shoot the messenger.

You are wrong !the relationship between men and women was very different in the sixties.

 

Us lot of townies knew not to swear in front of women for a start ,apart from that it was excepted that the man of the house was the breadwinner and that mam was the gaffer at home.

 

That system worked , every one knew their place in society and there was not any delusions of grander as there is today.

 

There was also not the same mass unemployment, a lot of which is due to both sexes after the same jobs.

We had less but we were a lot happier than todays must have it all brigade.

[Rupert_Baehr]

Some people really are quite thick.

 

Surprisingly so, considering I'm talking about Masters/PhD -level

Culture of entitlement and all that

 

I'm always surprised that people still can't figure out that 'London rate' doesn't in anyway cover the London cost of living.

 

Been to visit several friends and while they are living in 1 or 2 bed flats they're paying double what I do for a 3-bed detached place

 

This observation is actually quite prescient in the context of the thread: on the run up to the inevitability of 2008, it got to be more expensive to live in Dublin than London (and many other international 'hubs' long-held as "most expensive places to live").

 

We used to fly my mother-in-law over (Donny or EMA>Dublin) for babysitting duties when I had lengthy functions to attend with the Mrs. I kid you not. We had change left over from her flight + airport runs, compared to what it was going to cost us at the going babysitting rate.

 

(I'm dragging up an old bit of the thread - but I was 'otherwise engaged' when this bit was written and it's fairly topical to me at the moment.)

 

I've no doubt you got more than your share of people who fit the 'culture of entitlement' argument L00b, but what are the 'going rates'?

 

You said your company do not and will not pay London rates. Fair enough.

 

London rates for some professions are very high, but how do London Rates for PhD Scientists and Engineers compare with European or American Rates?

 

If London Rates for Scientists and Engineers with Masters' Degrees or PhDs are lower than International (European, US or elsewhere) rates and the rates in Sheffield are lower than London Rates, then the rates in Sheffield are significantly lower than elsewhere.

 

Would that not tend to encourage those graduates to go elsewhere?

 

What is (serious question) the 'going rate' for a recently-qualified man with a PhD in Biochemistry in Sheffield, London or elsewhere in the UK?

 

I agree with your statement that there are 'too many people with degrees', but there certainly aren't too many scientists and engineers with Masters' degrees or Doctorates - indeed, other countries are crying out for them.

[mjw47]

Arrr Sez I.

 

I totally resent the suggestion that either I, or my non existent brother, had anything to do with the building of the Titanic.

 

That ship sank on it's maiden voyage & was as shoddy an example of Irish workmanship as has ever been produced.

As I was raised a Catholic I would not have been allowed to work at Harland & Wolf therefore I have an alibi for that particular disaster.

 

The boat which I actually worked on was in fact the Ark. As you are aware that vessel did it's job to perfection & where would we all be without it?

[L00b]

London rates for some professions are very high, but how do London Rates for PhD Scientists and Engineers compare with European or American Rates?

In my game specifically:

 

London, figure 25% over for a starter, up to 50% when fully-qualified (minimum 4 years later) relative to Sheffield.

 

Munich (most relevant EU location for profession) trailing London by about 5-10%. You don't need the lingo as much as used to be the case (...though you still need GB, FR & DE (any 2 of which at least functional enough) to pass the European professional exams, regardless of where based anyway...even Sheffield! )

 

Anywhere else in EU (except Paris, about peg level w.Munich) at best Manchester rate (>Sheffield), at worst less than Outer Hebrides rate (e.g. in Balkan countries).

 

US is you-eat-what-you-kill from the off, with double the chargeable hour targets (US guys have no home life, period). Similar gap between Washington (the US profession's capital, just like Holborn in London for the UK profession) and the rest of the US, as between London & rest of UK. If you take Washington figures, easily+10% on London (but harder still to get in & stay in).

 

I'd consider a move to AU or NZ...but never the US. They're just Stakhanovites

[Dardandec]

No one.

 

And they're not alone.

 

"Humanly Impossible for the U.S. to Ever Pay Off Its Debt"

 

And that was 2 years ago, when the debt was "only" $14,580,009,156,725.

 

It's now closer to £16,842,092,451,789.

 

The only reason the U.S. can stay "solvent" is that, according to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke:

 

 

 

LINK

 

What could possibly go wrong?

 

Printing money is never a bad thing if it is done properly. At the end of the day, re-introducing "lost" money back into an economy can never ever do any harm if its done correctly.

 

Unfortunately there is a very fine line between doing it wrong or doing it right.

 

Now, when I say "lost" money I do mean exactly that, not money stashed under someone's bed or stored In some sort of safe haven abroad or even in someone's savings account . But that's where the fine line begins, is it "lost" or safe money, that's how printing too much can do more harm to an economy than good.

 

Unfortunately no one can gauge the "fine line" that's where it gets a bit tricky, But printing money is not a bad thing if its done right.

[Anna B]

Printing money is never a bad thing if it is done properly. At the end of the day, re-introducing "lost" money back into an economy can never ever do any harm if its done correctly.

 

Unfortunately there is a very fine line between doing it wrong or doing it right.

 

Now, when I say "lost" money I do mean exactly that, not money stashed under someone's bed or stored In some sort of safe haven abroad or even in someone's savings account . But that's where the fine line begins, is it "lost" or safe money, that's how printing too much can do more harm to an economy than good.

 

Unfortunately no one can gauge the "fine line" that's where it gets a bit tricky, But printing money is not a bad thing if its done right.

 

But is any money actually lost? Surely there is just as much money in circulation as before - in fact more because we've printed a whole lot more.

 

Where's it gone? I suspect a lot of it has gone to the 1% who, judging by Forbes rich list are getting a whole lot richer, and a lot is stashed in banks which won't lend it out to anyone.

 

As with food shortages, there is enough in the world for everyone, but the distribution is wrong, so half the world starves while the rest grow fat.

 

This is very much a man made crisis - and by that I mean the banks and the governments, not the man in the street. Since when did they give a fig about them.

[mjw47]

Anna B. Agree entirely with that. I have to admit that economics is not my strong point - unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the bankers strong point either - but I cannot get my head around quantitative easing.

Surely the only time it would make sense would be if your currency was so strong that it was damaging exports to an unacceptable level?

You are after all devaluing the Pound & reducing everyone's savings.

 

During the War the Germans had a plan to print millions of Pounds Sterling & drop it randomly over Britain in order to destabilize the economy. Have to admit to being a trifle confused at this stage.

 

The other thing that I became aware of recently is that they apparently don't actually print the money for this procedure it's all done by computer.

Bearing in mind that there's a man currently in serious trouble for hacking into the American Defence System from his back bedroom, what could possibly go wrong with that?

[Rupert_Baehr]

The US can get away with printing Dollars, because oil is priced in Dollars.

 

If oil was priced in Pounds or Euros, or could be purchased on the 'spot' market in any currency, the US Would lose the protection it receives and (particularly given fiscal irresponsibility of the current administration) the value of the dollar would tumble.