Britan has RUN out of Money !!!

[Mega]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c...I-is-told.html

When in GOD's name will the £ get crushed?????
Mike

[rjwjr]

Re: Britan has RUN out of Money !!!

The pound and the US stock market are like the levitation trick at a magic show.



Something is holding them up. We're just not privy to the trick.

[hayekvindicated]

Re: Britan has RUN out of Money !!!

I watched this documentary for the first time and for a foreigner who has only been here for a few short years and is too young to even remember the 70s, it was an eye opener.

I had read that things were really bad in the 1970s but had no idea how bad they actually were until I watched this. I did not know that people were without power three or four days of a week for long periods of time. It is absolutely astonishing to me. Even in India, we never had three day blackouts in a single week!

I am convinced that things will be even worse this time. The rampant inflation of the 1970s will seem tame compared to what is in store this time. I know that a lot of people use the CPI as some kind of "gold standard" for measuring inflation, but here's a simple question to consider: in 1965 when Wilson took office, Britain's fiscal situation was dire. But even so, the total debt was only £800 million. Today, the annual deficit is £200 BILLION. The total national debt is £830 BILLION (and that's the official figure which doesn't include off balance sheet tricks like PFI, the liabilities of the bankrupt banks that will never become profitable again etc etc). And to top it all, they didn't have the marvellous idea of monetising the debt. Back then, they still respected the integrity of the currency to some extent.

It boggles the mind to think how bad things will get this time. People take comfort in things like the fact that the unions were broken in the 1980s, so we won't have those kinds of problems. But I disagree. The unions will spring up in no time when inflation gets out of control and working people start getting ripped off by their employers (private or public). It is also a fallacy that unions were primarily responsible for the problems of the 1970s in the UK. The problem was deficit spending. This caused inflation which then caused real wages to plummet and in response the workers started demanding higher pay and went on strike. People forget that during the same period in the 1970s, Germany was thriving even though Germany has always had very powerful unions as well. However, the German currency was solid as a rock and (relative to Britain), inflation was very low.

We are about to have a repeat - except it will be much much worse. And the people that take comfort in the fact that industry is not as unionised right now, I have one question to ask of them: how will London function if tube workers were to go on strike repeatedly?

[Chris]

Re: Britan has RUN out of Money !!!

Hayek, they'd cycle on those fabulous road that the government have been taking care of over the last decade!

I cycle almost everywhere these days and can't count the number of times i've ended up in a pot-hole which has been disguised by an avalanche of water that flows out of the already decrepid sewer system.

[touchring]

Re: Britan has RUN out of Money !!!

I've almost forgotten how a blackout looked or felt like. But my DSL frequently experiences "blackout" though.

[hayekvindicated]

Re: Britan has RUN out of Money !!!

Hayek, they'd cycle on those fabulous road that the government have been taking care of over the last decade!

I cycle almost everywhere these days and can't count the number of times i've ended up in a pot-hole which has been disguised by an avalanche of water that flows out of the already decrepid sewer system.

LOL!!! Sounds like India ten years ago (some parts are like that even today). As they run out of money, the infrastructure will go to pieces.