"How to cut public spending and still win an election"
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"How to cut public spending and still win an election"After seeing the above title of a book in Waterstones today (although admitadely being in a rush I didnt have a chance to properly flick through it) it gave me the idea to ask you guys if you have any opinions on how the government can cut public spending, preferably of worthless or near worthless "things" the government spends our money on, potentially saving the country billions to pump into health, education, decreasing defecit etc etc.
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"hey a second falkland war is looming and the bookies money is on us to win- lets hope mr cameron doesnt think along the same way as Maggie did with the Falklands to win votes.(Original post by kka25)
Ask Maggie to do it. -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"Essentially it all boils down to whether the public agree we needs cuts to start with and whether we get the growth at the end, if this occurs you have achieved your goals and the electorate will say, have another go.
For the most part i agree with cuts in principal however i do not like the way that they have done it as i would have rather seen a slower and much more detailed appraisal of each department rather than "i want 25/40% cuts, go find them". -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"You mean like Labour's so called 'alternative approach' to the deficit?(Original post by Rakas21)
Essentially it all boils down to whether the public agree we needs cuts to start with and whether we get the growth at the end, if this occurs you have achieved your goals and the electorate will say, have another go.
For the most part i agree with cuts in principal however i do not like the way that they have done it as i would have rather seen a slower and much more detailed appraisal of each department rather than "i want 25/40% cuts, go find them".
On the face of it, taking twice as long to pay down the deficit sounds a lot less painful all round.
However, put some figures around it and thanks to the wonders of compound interest, you would soon realise it would only amount to around two billion less in cuts.
So we get to pay even more eye-watering amounts of interest, for twice as many years and instead of the dreaded thousand cuts, we get 999 instead.
Labour are brilliant in opposition. Like all the left, they have a PhD in what they're against, but no clue at all what they are for, except spending all our money on absolutely sod all.
We'd have been better off trusting the nation's credit card to a spoilt teenage girl. -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"I am certainly opposed to Labour's proposal.(Original post by marcusfox)
You mean like Labour's so called 'alternative approach' to the deficit?
On the face of it, taking twice as long to pay down the deficit sounds a lot less painful all round.
However, put some figures around it and thanks to the wonders of compound interest, you would soon realise it would only amount to around two billion less in cuts.
So we get to pay even more eye-watering amounts of interest, for twice as many years and instead of the dreaded thousand cuts, we get 999 instead.
Labour are brilliant in opposition. Like all the left, they have a PhD in what they're against, but no clue at all what they are for, except spending all our money on absolutely sod all.
We'd have been better off trusting the nation's credit card to a spoilt teenage girl.
What i meant was under my proposal rather than a universal 25/40% cut in each department their would have been a much more detailed appraisal with varying degrees of cuts (no department would be exempt). This would have started a little later (a more detailed appraisal takes longer) with a freeze in the meantime but would have been deeper overall probably as some departments (International development) would have seen much bigger cuts. My proposal would also see no tax rises other than the 2.5% raise in VAT as taxation serves to limit consumption. -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"Essentially that's what they did. By "cut", most people assume that massive amounts were slashed from all existing budgets.(Original post by Rakas21)
I am certainly opposed to Labour's proposal.
What i meant was under my proposal rather than a universal 25/40% cut in each department their would have been a much more detailed appraisal with varying degrees of cuts (no department would be exempt). This would have started a little later (a more detailed appraisal takes longer) with a freeze in the meantime but would have been deeper overall probably as some departments (International development) would have seen much bigger cuts. My proposal would also see no tax rises other than the 2.5% raise in VAT as taxation serves to limit consumption.
But in most cases, all that happened was that the planned spending and budget increases that usually happen every year were cancelled, leaving the departments with the same budget as they had had previously.
Of course, these departments had already planned where they were going to spend their money, and some of it had already been spent in anticipation of receiving it, so they had to cut existing jobs and services to take that into account. -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"That's amazing. How come no one has thought about doing it before?(Original post by internetguru)
We could always take a third approach just keep borrowing and investing and then refuse to pay back any of the debts. -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"But then you won't be in power again for another 20 odd years(Original post by Genocidal)
They needed a book to answer that question?
Here's my political answer: "Lie like hell, they're stuck with you for five years."
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"Oh wait, Labour already has.(Original post by Bax-man)
That's amazing. How come no one has thought about doing it before?
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"People who oppose government cuts tend to be extremely selfish.
Short term loss, long term gain. What's so difficult for people to understand that? I suppose they want regular top ups to their bank accounts from the government. -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"Look at football clubs they go into administration and don't have to pay back most of the debt. Then look at Greece half of their debt already got written off. Then there is Iceland who got away without paying any of theirs.(Original post by Bax-man)
That's amazing. How come no one has thought about doing it before? -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"The best way to cut public spending is to do it immediately, when there is the longest possible time before the next election; that way the benefits of such cuts (economic growth, reduced deficit, etc) will be apparent at that election.
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"If there exists a declared policy of not repaying debts, how many private lenders do you suppose will purchase government bonds? Now we could suppose that the government might keep the policy "secret" so they could - for a time - continue to sell debt. How long do you imagine that this could happen for?(Original post by internetguru)
Look at football clubs they go into administration and don't have to pay back most of the debt. Then look at Greece half of their debt already got written off. Then there is Iceland who got away without paying any of theirs.
Greece and Iceland are wonderful examples of how not paying off debt causes problems - Greece faced soaring interest rates on bonds precisely because it was seen that they were increasingly risky investments (that is, the chance of repayment was relatively low). -
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"Improve headline figures - waiting times etc - whilst reducing quality of public services. Get more police and nurses whilst sacking administrators and back-office staff. Have lots of free stuff introduced: the electorate prefer free services to quality ones.
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Re: "How to cut public spending and still win an election"(Original post by marcusfox)
You mean like Labour's so called 'alternative approach' to the deficit?
On the face of it, taking twice as long to pay down the deficit sounds a lot less painful all round.
However, put some figures around it and thanks to the wonders of compound interest, you would soon realise it would only amount to around two billion less in cuts.
So we get to pay even more eye-watering amounts of interest, for twice as many years and instead of the dreaded thousand cuts, we get 999 instead.
Labour are brilliant in opposition. Like all the left, they have a PhD in what they're against, but no clue at all what they are for, except spending all our money on absolutely sod all.
We'd have been better off trusting the nation's credit card to a spoilt teenage girl.
Whats your source for all of this claims?
