[TheHansa]

(Original post by Barden)
The success of my party is (IMO, obviously) for the good of the people...

Of course it is, as is the same with people of other ideologies, but if unemployment fell and the economy boomed would you not be happy because of the improvement to quality of life even if it meant your party suffered in the short term?

[Clip]

Don't forget - Gordon Brown abolished boom and bust.

[Captain Crash]

(Original post by usainlightning)
Well that's fine then. As long as the tories are screwed you don't give a toss about any of your fellow citizens.
If you actually look at the finer detail the differences in economic policy are not as stark as the parties make out. A £40 billion difference in fiscal tightening over the course of this parliament (5 years), which works out at £8 billion a year. In a £1.5 trillion economy the idea that an extra bit of borrowing would be the difference between a depression and a boom is quite frankly laughable.

Actually it's quite easy to see how a relatively small amount of fiscal tightening can cause economic trouble. If, say, a large construction company was doing relatively well out of the previous recession, but was relying on a government contract which was cancelled, the company starts may find itself in financial difficulty. This knocks onto to subcontractors who find themselves with less work and possibly even going out of business. Then, the laid off workers from either company have less to spend on the retail sectors.

The £8bn cut will have a bigger effect than the sheer monetary value of the cut.

[rich2606]

Hmmm, I'd be interested to see what the inevitable revisions to the data reveal. First estimates of GDP are notoriously unreliable as they only use 40% of the total data that will eventually be available, and private analysts seem to be sceptical of this 3% drop in construction that was the driving force behind this poor result. Wouldn't be surprised if it was like the end of 2009 when it turned out we were actually out of recession 3 months earlier than reported at the time and actually posting decent growth.

Of course things could be worse than stated here.... its just that the ONS has a history of underestimating growth whereas the American equivalent consistently overestimates, and this has corresponding knock on effects to underlying confidence in the economy.

[Barden]

(Original post by TheHansa)
Of course it is, as is the same with people of other ideologies, but if unemployment fell and the economy boomed would you not be happy because of the improvement to quality of life even if it meant your party suffered in the short term?

If unemployment had fallen and the economy had boomed it would have been because the Tories had a manifesto I agreed with...

We knew this would happen. There was worldwide condemnation of this programme of cuts...


Edit: I realise that's not phrased very well... I'm not actually a megalomaniac...

[TheHansa]

(Original post by rich2606)
Hmmm, I'd be interested to see what the inevitable revisions to the data reveal. First estimates of GDP are notoriously unreliable as they only use 40% of the total data that will eventually be available, and private analysts seem to be sceptical of this 3% drop in construction that was the driving force behind this poor result. Wouldn't be surprised if it was like the end of 2009 when it turned out we were actually out of recession 3 months earlier than reported at the time and actually posting decent growth.

Of course things could be worse than stated here.... its just that the ONS has a history of underestimating growth whereas the American equivalent consistently overestimates, and this has corresponding knock on effects to underlying confidence in the economy.

Yeah but even if we're not really in recession now, the hit to confidence will probably do the job.

[Clip]

(Original post by Barden)
If unemployment had fallen and the economy had boomed it would have been because the Tories had a manifesto I agreed with...

We knew this would happen. There was worldwide condemnation of this programme of cuts...

So where was that oracle before the recession? If you knew all these things, why did they happen? Everyone knew what the score was before the election, and the coalition notwithstanding, Labour was thrown out and the Conservatives only fell slightly short of a majority.

People voted knowing what the programme of cuts was going to be - and you know what? Outside of the client state, most people welcome them. If you're not on the public sector gravy train - I would hazard that most people wanted to see the cuts.

[Dekota-XS]

Start of the end.

[Jeester]

Gordon Brown really should get the recognition he deserves!
He did more for this economy in recession than anyone.

He was an economic hero in my eyes.


IN A TIME OF DOWNTURN WE SPEND NOT CUT.
Basic economic policy.
Aggrigate demand = Consumer Spending, Inverstment, Government Spending and net exports.

[Barden]

(Original post by Clip)
So where was that oracle before the recession? If you knew all these things, why did they happen?

Not what I meant, but I can see how is came across that way lol!

I meant that if the Tories plans were for the good of this country I'd have voted for them.

[Jeester]

(Original post by morris743)
Is this erm a double dip? How long is it till it's termed a depression?

Don't blame Dave and George, they were too busy trying to push the Sky bid through for the Murdochs to raise billions for the economy in erm...taxes.

Someone has probably already told you this but a depression is 4 quarters of negative growth.

[morris743]

(Original post by Dekota-XS)
Start of the end.

That was the end of World War II.

[morris743]

(Original post by Jeester)
Someone has probably already told you this but a depression is 4 quarters of negative growth.

Ah. TY

[Clip]

(Original post by Jeester)
Gordon Brown really should get the recognition he deserves!
He did more for this economy in recession than anyone.

He was an economic hero in my eyes.


IN A TIME OF DOWNTURN WE SPEND NOT CUT.
Basic economic policy.
Aggrigate demand = Consumer Spending, Inverstment, Government Spending and net exports.

Not when the deficit is at the level it was, you don't.

Half the country is ranting and crying about the cost of the Olympics, and you propose spending multiple times that on a consistent footing on other public projects? Where, pray tell, is this money going to come from? There isn't any left. The only place it can come from is to borrow it, and put national interest payments at absurd levels.

[Captain Crash]

(Original post by Clip)
Not when the deficit is at the level it was, you don't.

Half the country is ranting and crying about the cost of the Olympics, and you propose spending multiple times that on a consistent footing on other public projects? Where, pray tell, is this money going to come from? There isn't any left. The only place it can come from is to borrow it, and put national interest payments at absurd levels.

Historically speaking, our levels of debt and interest aren't particularly high:





We have room for further borrowing. Obviously the deficit isn't long term sustainable, but it doesn't mean we couldn't avoid cuts for a few years until we have return to economic growth.

[Jeester]

(Original post by Clip)
Not when the deficit is at the level it was, you don't.

Half the country is ranting and crying about the cost of the Olympics, and you propose spending multiple times that on a consistent footing on other public projects? Where, pray tell, is this money going to come from? There isn't any left. The only place it can come from is to borrow it, and put national interest payments at absurd levels.

They are already borrowing more than we used too! Check the figures, national borrowing went up

http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/uk...1_1314&legend=

And it's expected to carry on going up. That's where the money is going to come from.
There is always money available.
And Gordon Brown's borrowing through the boom years led to the great footing on which the UK had so we didn't plummet like countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy.

HEY RON, I'M RIDING A FURRY TRACTOR!

[KingGoonIan]

So what does this mean for us students?

£18k a year fees?

[morris743]

Just seen this on another forum lol

[Captain Crash]

(Original post by Jeester)
Someone has probably already told you this but a depression is 4 quarters of negative growth.

Actually a depression is 2 years of negative growth or a loss of 10% of GDP, although the definition isn't as widely accepted as that for a recession.

[Llamageddon]

(Original post by Barden)
The better we look the more chance we have of winning elections and implementing our policies

The stain of ideology: when you'd rather the country was in a state but ran by people you support than running well under people you don't.