A question from my son about poverty

[joiner andy]

Yes we went through the whole family , questions like that do make you think.

[owltillidie]

Because that devalues the rest of the money that everyone else has.

And if society is going to give money to people, then everyone is going to want some.

 

They do however provide benefits, so there is no absolute poverty in the UK.

 

Homelessness is mostly unrelated to benefits or cash though, it's a symptom of other problems and can't be solved by giving away cash or council houses.

 

Are you being silly? Import cost will go though the roof, we will be a third world country who cant afford to import any food or goods

[*_ash_*]

Driving home from football the other day my son asked me this, why doesn't the government/banks print more money so there is no poor or homeless people?

I said ask your mother :-/

 

 

Because that devalues the rest of the money that everyone else has.

 

I tried to explain this to someone at work.

 

I thought best way to explain it, is using an extreme example - the £1million giveaway!.

 

Say I owe you Andy £300 for some joinery work you did for me, and I owed Cyclone £5 that he lent me a few weeks ago. And Alisonmanic £1000 for a loan they gave me.

 

Odds on, you'd come to get the money off me, even if in instalments, Alison would definitely come around to get the money off me. Cyclone wouldn't go to that extreme, but he might mention it, if we're in the pub to get him a beer.

 

Then imagine that the BoE printed a million quid for every person in the country.

 

Would you still come for your £300 Andy? Perhaps but it most likely wouldn't be worth it. Alison, probably the same, but if close by might ask me for it. Cyclone and I would probably argue over who buys the next round in the pub, never mind the fiver.

 

This should be enough to explain to him.

 

If not, I added at work, would you still work here for £7/hour? Would you still work Andy, even if on a well paid job at say £50/hour?

Nice apparently rhetorical, but in fact cryptic question to finish.

 

(e.g. if everyone had a million quid, how much an hour would you want to fix my dodgy floorboards?)

 

Pricing/wages/everything would have to change in a few days. The instability would cause prices to rocket as people panic buy.

 

Inflation would obviously sky-rocket after 1 year. And probably would take years to recover. By which time even Alison's loan to me would be worth less than a grain of rice.

 

Initially chaos would ensue.

 

-

 

Ask him what he think would happen if everyone in the country was given a million pounds, and see what his answer is! Depending on how old he is, it could be an interesting answer I think there is a scale of youth/optimism.

 

The younger he is, the more optimistic the answer will be. After about 16-18 the answer will probably be closer to the dismal consequence that I would predict

[tinfoilhat]

 

 

 

I tried to explain this to someone at work.

 

I thought best way to explain it, is using an extreme example - the £1million giveaway!.

 

Say I owe you Andy £300 for some joinery work you did for me, and I owed Cyclone £5 that he lent me a few weeks ago. And Alisonmanic £1000 for a loan they gave me.

 

Odds on, you'd come to get the money off me, even if in instalments, Alison would definitely come around to get the money off me. Cyclone wouldn't go to that extreme, but he might mention it, if we're in the pub to get him a beer.

 

Then imagine that the BoE printed a million quid for every person in the country.

 

Would you still come for your £300 Andy? Perhaps but it most likely wouldn't be worth it. Alison, probably the same, but if close by might ask me for it. Cyclone and I would probably argue over who buys the next round in the pub, never mind the fiver.

 

This should be enough to explain to him.

 

If not, I added at work, would you still work here for £7/hour? Would you still work Andy, even if on a well paid job at say £50/hour?

Nice apparently rhetorical, but in fact cryptic question to finish.

 

(e.g. if everyone had a million quid, how much an hour would you want to fix my dodgy floorboards?)

 

Pricing/wages/everything would have to change in a few days. The instability would cause prices to rocket as people panic buy.

 

Inflation would obviously sky-rocket after 1 year. And probably would take years to recover. By which time even Alison's loan to me would be worth less than a grain of rice.

 

Initially chaos would ensue.

 

-

 

Ask him what he think would happen if everyone in the country was given a million pounds, and see what his answer is! Depending on how old he is, it could be an interesting answer I think there is a scale of youth/optimism.

 

The younger he is, the more optimistic the answer will be. After about 16-18 the answer will probably be closer to the dismal consequence that I would predict

 

I saw an advert for a show where bez of happy Mondays fame wants to become an mp and more or less do the same.

[*_ash_*]

I saw an advert for a show where bez of happy Mondays fame wants to become an mp and more or less do the same.

 

Given your implied agreement to this lack of optimism, can I guess you're over 30?

[tinfoilhat]

Given your implied agreement to this lack of optimism, can I guess you're over 30?

 

Yes.;) And so is bez. An advert for drugs use if ever there was one.

[owltillidie]

 

 

 

I tried to explain this to someone at work.

 

I thought best way to explain it, is using an extreme example - the £1million giveaway!.

 

Say I owe you Andy £300 for some joinery work you did for me, and I owed Cyclone £5 that he lent me a few weeks ago. And Alisonmanic £1000 for a loan they gave me.

 

Odds on, you'd come to get the money off me, even if in instalments, Alison would definitely come around to get the money off me. Cyclone wouldn't go to that extreme, but he might mention it, if we're in the pub to get him a beer.

 

Then imagine that the BoE printed a million quid for every person in the country.

 

Would you still come for your £300 Andy? Perhaps but it most likely wouldn't be worth it. Alison, probably the same, but if close by might ask me for it. Cyclone and I would probably argue over who buys the next round in the pub, never mind the fiver.

 

This should be enough to explain to him.

 

If not, I added at work, would you still work here for £7/hour? Would you still work Andy, even if on a well paid job at say £50/hour?

Nice apparently rhetorical, but in fact cryptic question to finish.

 

(e.g. if everyone had a million quid, how much an hour would you want to fix my dodgy floorboards?)

 

Pricing/wages/everything would have to change in a few days. The instability would cause prices to rocket as people panic buy.

 

Inflation would obviously sky-rocket after 1 year. And probably would take years to recover. By which time even Alison's loan to me would be worth less than a grain of rice.

 

Initially chaos would ensue.

 

-

 

Ask him what he think would happen if everyone in the country was given a million pounds, and see what his answer is! Depending on how old he is, it could be an interesting answer I think there is a scale of youth/optimism.

 

The younger he is, the more optimistic the answer will be. After about 16-18 the answer will probably be closer to the dismal consequence that I would predict

 

Wasting your time trying to explain to cyclone. he is not the brightest person around

[Maz3]

Driving home from football the other day my son asked me this, why doesn't the government/banks print more money so there is no poor or homeless people?

 

Sounds a right thoughtful lad you have there Andy.

[joiner andy]

 

 

 

I tried to explain this to someone at work.

 

I thought best way to explain it, is using an extreme example - the £1million giveaway!.

 

Say I owe you Andy £300 for some joinery work you did for me, and I owed Cyclone £5 that he lent me a few weeks ago. And Alisonmanic £1000 for a loan they gave me.

 

Odds on, you'd come to get the money off me, even if in instalments, Alison would definitely come around to get the money off me. Cyclone wouldn't go to that extreme, but he might mention it, if we're in the pub to get him a beer.

 

Then imagine that the BoE printed a million quid for every person in the country.

 

Would you still come for your £300 Andy? Perhaps but it most likely wouldn't be worth it. Alison, probably the same, but if close by might ask me for it. Cyclone and I would probably argue over who buys the next round in the pub, never mind the fiver.

 

This should be enough to explain to him.

 

If not, I added at work, would you still work here for £7/hour? Would you still work Andy, even if on a well paid job at say £50/hour?

Nice apparently rhetorical, but in fact cryptic question to finish.

 

(e.g. if everyone had a million quid, how much an hour would you want to fix my dodgy floorboards?)

 

Pricing/wages/everything would have to change in a few days. The instability would cause prices to rocket as people panic buy.

 

Inflation would obviously sky-rocket after 1 year. And probably would take years to recover. By which time even Alison's loan to me would be worth less than a grain of rice.

 

Initially chaos would ensue.

 

-

 

Ask him what he think would happen if everyone in the country was given a million pounds, and see what his answer is! Depending on how old he is, it could be an interesting answer I think there is a scale of youth/optimism.

 

The younger he is, the more optimistic the answer will be. After about 16-18 the answer will probably be closer to the dismal consequence that I would predict

 

Brilliant and thanks

[*_ash_*]

Wasting your time trying to explain to cyclone. he is not the brightest person around

 

I will disagree when he accepts the logic to my example :hihi:

 

He might pick up some minor flaws (but I did write it quickly and without much care) - so I would accept that.

 

 

---------- Post added 01-10-2014 at 22:54 ----------

 

Sounds a right thoughtful lad you have there Andy.

 

Yes, I agree.

 

Brilliant and thanks

 

Thanks andy. Out of interest, what is he? 5, 10, 15? It doesn't matter to me, but I would use the example differently with different ages. e.g. (on average) a 5 year old won't understand loans, a 10 year will still want the £300 quid regardless of its value, and 15 you can make more serious as he's close to understanding the concept of money.

Edited October 1, 2014 by *_ash_*