More economic pain whoever wins 2015 general election

[EDWOOD]

Putting up wages increases costs. That is why much of our manufacturing industry has now relocated over seas. But don't worry. We have some of the highest paid workers in the world but their hours have been reduced to zero.

 

I never said in my post to increase wages or impose a higher minimum wage.

 

I said the income tax starting threshold should rise. This does not impose more costs on business.

[andygardener]

I never said in my post to increase wages or impose a higher minimum wage.

 

I said the income tax starting threshold should rise. This does not impose more costs on business.

 

The income tax threshold will have doubled under this government from the threshold they inherited from labour. Which is a very good thing, helping low paid workers to benefit from the fruits of their work.

[Mister M]

Can you tell what the rallying call will be?

 

"What do we want?"

"Erm...tax the rich?"

 

Which won't happen with any mainstream party in charge. There won't be massive protests because a lot realise there aren't many other options. Nobody has said they are going to reverse anything (new labour never has) so it's more cuts, from a democratically elected government who promised cuts. There are posters on here that forget that.

 

 

I've no idea what 'their' rallying call will be. Their in inverted commas as most demonstrations are an amalgam of lots of groups each with a particular concern or represent a myriad of interests.

Unfortunately for the media, they can't pigeon hole those demonstrating - though that won't stop the more narrow minded in the press and TV from dissmissing them as the 'usual suspects'.

 

You're right that from the 3 main parties the message is, and probably was the same. Though interestingly enough none of them are talking about the inevitability of tax rises, which Jeremy Hunt on tonight's Channel 4 news refused to engage with the news anchor.

 

As other posters on here rightly said, there are choices. And there are some that are being hit more than others; similarly while there is tough talk about bonuses, the reality has not changed - the link I gave is one example of that.

 

While the PM was right to say that he won't balance the books on the back of the poor - it looks like that's exactly what was happening. Though I'm sure that Labour would do exactly the same

[Titanic99]

thankfully Dingus has already taken your argument apart, but still you insist house prices are wealth, which goes to show you do not understand what you are talking about.

 

Ok mate so if your house has gone up from £50k to £200k in this time and your shares from £50k to £75k you aren't seriously suggesting you'd rather have the share increase than the property one.

 

If you are, can we swap?

 

Oh by the way I also had an interview concerning my pension this week which is invested in a mixture of property, shares and currency, so I'd like a little bit more of an increase in property prices please.

[andygardener]

Ok mate so if your house has gone up from £50k to £200k in this time and your shares from £50k to £75k you aren't seriously suggesting you'd rather have the share increase than the property one.

 

If you are, can we swap?

 

Oh by the way I also had an interview concerning my pension this week which is invested in a mixture of property, shares and currency, so I'd like a little bit more of an increase in property prices please.

"

If you want to become a tramp then clearly the big "kerching" is the house price increase. If like most people you still want your house to live in it is not that relevant what it's worth. Share price increases however can be realised at will with no loss of roof over head resulting.

[Anna B]

cuts cuts cuts.....but wheres the investment in jobs thats going to stimulate growth.

 

Today it was announced that the high speed rail link has gone up another £10 billion and is predicted to rise to nearer £50 billion. It is creating planning and development blight the length of the country and won't be finished until 2026, assuming it gets through all the planning issues. Work on it won't even start for years.

 

Wouldn't the money have been better invested in houses and local infrastructure which can begin almost immediately and create jobs as well as improvements to the economy? It's need now, not years down the line?

[Mister M]

So the Tories will have achieved in 5 years what it took Labour 12 years to accomplish? Champagne all round lads!

 

I was going to say it's hardly a badge of honour that he's had to make these cuts, after all The Prime Minister and Chancellor when firmly in office in 2010 said that further cuts would not be necessary.

 

---------- Post added 26-06-2013 at 23:48 ----------

 

Today it was announced that the high speed rail link has gone up another £10 billion and is predicted to rise to nearer £50 billion. It is creating planning and development blight the length of the country and won't be finished until 2026, assuming it gets through all the planning issues. Work on it won't even start for years.

 

Wouldn't the money have been better invested in houses and local infrastructure which can begin almost immediately and create jobs as well as improvements to the economy? It's need now, not years down the line?

 

In addition to that it's been predicted that the HS2 won't create as many jobs as first predicted either. For the huge amount of money invested it would be preferable on schemes that as create more jobs, and as you say can impact with more immediacy.

[Rupert_Baehr]

...

I hope there are demonstrations and lots of them, and that they are well attended. I genuinely hope they don't degenerate into rioting. That's the last thing we need.

As we know some in the police would be only too happy to administer the punishment, and there are posters on here who would like nothing more than to tarnish genuine protesters as thugs deserving of a good kicking.

 

There's nothing wrong with demonstrations ... until they turn into an excuse to vandalise property and steal. - As in the Tottenham riots of 2011.

 

If that should happen again, I hope the rioters will be arrested, prosecuted and if convicted, sent down for a very long time.

[Dingus]

Ok mate so if your house has gone up from £50k to £200k in this time and your shares from £50k to £75k you aren't seriously suggesting you'd rather have the share increase than the property one.

 

If you are, can we swap?

.

 

I think you will find that if your shares increase you have a profit. If your house increases in value you simply live in a more expensive house.

 

Shares increased in value by around 450% during the Thatcher era. That meant our pensions increased in value and so did our investments. During the same period house prices increased around 8 fold. Not something to get excited about unless you sell up and live in a tent.

 

Between 1997 and 2010 shares increased by around 25%. Allowing for inflation that meant no increase at all. So no increase in our pension funds and no return on investments. But they did have massive house price inflation due to building insufficient houses. So if you sold your house and lived in a tent you did OK.

 

Since 2010 house prices have increased slowly but the stock market has increased by almost 25%. So our pension funds have increased as have our investments. You can sell investments without having to move into a tent.

 

---------- Post added 27-06-2013 at 00:00 ----------

 

 

Oh by the way I also had an interview concerning my pension this week which is invested in a mixture of property, shares and currency, so I'd like a little bit more of an increase in property prices please.

 

Oh by the way. Gordon Brown introduced a tax on pension fund dividends. He also abolished indexation on investments and capital gains, so good luck with your pension. I suspect a one eyed Scotsman has taken most of it.

[Vague_Boy]

Bill Jamieson: Cuts can’t hide debt timebomb

 

But there is another and altogether more worrying reason. It relates to the one number in the spending review that was missing. And it is here we find the ticking torpedo.

 

It is the annual charge for debt interest. It is the fastest growing item of all government expenditure and ranks first for payment in the government accounts. This year it is set to hit £51bn. Back in 2004-5 this item accounted for 5.1 per cent of all spending. By 2017-18, it is forecast to hit £67.8bn and account for 9.5 per cent of all spending. By then, it will be absorbing more than a third of the government’s revenue from income tax.

 

Debt interest spending has increased rapidly in recent years as a result of the rise in borrowing. Some argue that there is no real problem – debt interest typically rises after a recession and debt interest payments in 2017-18 are only forecast to account for around the same proportion of total public spending as in 1997-98.

 

But back then the annual budget deficit was just 1.3 per cent of GDP compared with 7 per cent now, and economic growth was running at more than 3.5 per cent – more than double today’s level.

 

Moreover, the projections on debt interest assume interest rates will stay at their ultra-low levels and at international conditions will be stable. Neither assumption can be counted on.

 

Over the past few weeks, financial markets around the world have been falling sharply on hints by Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, that the emergency policy of monetary easing known as quantitative easing may be coming to an end and that he plans to begin tapering off this support later this year. The immediate reaction to this has been to push interest rates higher.

 

There is no immediate prospect that interest rates here at their emergency low level of 0.5 per cent will rise soon. But the warning from the US is a reminder that such emergency support cannot continue indefinitely. Taking a two-year view, who would confidently count on UK interest rates remaining at 0.5 per cent?

 

LINK

 

Debt interest to account for "more than a third of the government’s revenue from income tax" within 5 years.

 

I hope that the "spend, spend, spend" brigade can get their minds around that.

 

Their tired clarion call for "stimulus" ought to have been silenced by its utter failure in France.

 

French Unemployment Reaches 10.8% as Government Plans Fail

 

My advice? Relax and enjoy the ride.

 

We're locked onto "course oblivion" just as surely as if we were on a roller coaster.

 

There is nothing anyone can do to stop it.

 

September/October tends to be the usual time for financial turmoil.