Debt death spiral

Stagnant GDP, highest peacetime taxes for years and a rising debt:

Same problem for the USA but at least they are a reserve currency

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The difference is that GDP growth in the US is running at a bit under 3%. Not stagnant.

DB2

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More figures out today

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Leap says it’s good.

The Captain

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The GBP used to be the reserve currency. Before WWII, the exchange rate was about 1 GBP = 5 USD. I remember when the GBP was officially devalued from 1=$2.80 US to 1=$2.40 US But then, I remember seeing British made products here. American Airlines flew BAC-111s. United flew Vickers Viscounts. MGs and Triumphs were common sights on the roads. Stereo shops sold BSR-McDonald and Garrard turntables. Now, the British auto industry has pretty much gone extinct. The few brands still in production are vanity projects by German and Indian companies. The British commercial aircraft industry is now a subcontractor for Airbus.

Steve

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Correct, much of our heavy industry has gone. I saw something last night that said out energy prices were six times that of the USA which hasn’t helped. We site on vast amounts of oil, gas and coal which we won’t get (net zero) while importing liquid gas from the USA.

London is a prosperous part of the country but many northern cities are falling into decline where the standard of living is very low. It doesn’t look good. I’m telling younger members of my family to emigrate as I see no future for them here. I’m too old or I would be gone. Fortunately i live in a nice quiet rural area.

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It’s always good when you are not the one paying it :slight_smile:

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A British ex-pat, working for the US administration, a few years ago, became well known, due to her testimony in impeachment hearings.

She is from somewhere in the north, in the UK. A few years ago, she wrote a book. In an interview, she said the title is from advice her father gave her. It sounds very much like what you just said.

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As to heavy industry, British steel must still be around. Can they compete with imports? Who buys their steel?

Easy fix: re-open the Golden Visa program. Have been looking at Malta and its impressive the cash flow that country gets from their Golden Visa program.

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The obvious cause and one that was predicted by many is Brexit.

The UK is the only major rich economy that remains smaller - poorer - than prior to the pandemic and Brexit may be a factor…Overall, the government’s independent watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, thinks the UK will ultimately be 4% worse off, than it would have been if we had voted no to Brexit. What impact has Brexit had on the UK economy?

Seems to me that the UK shot its own economic foot.

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UK steel production has been declining steadily and is being replace by imports which now account for 60% of the UK’s use. We still have industries but they are in decline and shrinking:

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I’ve just noticed that the report was commissioned by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan. he’s part of the problem. This will give you an idea of what he is like:

He’s part of the woke, lefty, open borders class that now rules us. I’m not taking the report too seriously.

No, the reactionaries took the pistol, aimed it straight at their head, and pulled the trigger. Same folks complaining about wokies, nationalism, immigrants and such now.

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Fine. In 2018 the Institute for Government summarized 14 independent reports/predictions of the economic consequences of Brexit by many different groups. https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/Economic%20impact%20of%20Brexit%20summary.pdf

The report – of which this paper is a summary – surveys 14 studies, from a range of organisations including the UK Government, Dutch Government, academic researchers and City institutions.

The results:

The vast majority of the Brexit impact studies suggest the UK economy will grow more slowly after Brexit than it would do as a member of the EU, with those predictions ranging from a negligible cost to an 18% reduction in output in 2030 compared to a world in which the UK remained a member of the EU.

There was only one outlier predicting improved economics.

A 2019 Stanford study (pre-pandemic) showed a significant decline in investment and UK productivity in the three years after the referendum. The Impact of Brexit on UK Firms | Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)

A Bloomberg 2024 article notes that since 2016 (the referendum) the UK has significantly underperformed compared to the EU it left, “the EU economy is growing 2.3 percentage points faster than the UK’s on an annual basis, with GDP advancing 24% since 2016, compared with the 6% for the UK.” In comparison, “During the 10 years before the Brexit referendum, EU GDP lagged behind the UK annually by 12 basis points,” Brexit’s Lasting Economic and Financial Damage Looks Inescapable - Bloomberg

That liberal rag the Wall Street Journal notes UK buyers’ remorse: “As the U.K. heads to the polls next week, a majority thinks that leaving the EU was a mistake and has delivered few benefits—and new problems.” https://www.wsj.com/world/uk/brexit-british-regret-uk-election-837cbf4c

Sometimes the obvious cause is the actual cause. I’ll say again that it sure looks like the UK shot its own economic foot.

I have a strong suspicion something analogous will happen with America in the near future.

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Compared with the rest of the Eurozone we have held our own and are streets ahead of Germany whose economy is shrinking:

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn02784/

This, of course, doesn’t disprove that we would be £140 billion better off had we stayed in Europe, but I doubt it somehow.

So you reject it based on an ad hominem logical fallacy and not based on an actual review and consideration of the data.

Got it.

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No, I reject it based on results.

I note, for reference, that it was the ignorati complaining about immigrants taking jobs, other countries taking advantage, wokism in schools, and all the other Murdoch inspired complaints that we are now seeing come to fruition in this country.

Some people might want to draw a line between the two. Some will stick their head in the sand, and won’t.

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The factories take two years to start production. Give or take.

Your plans have no factory production increases. Reckless.

Compared to giving away the store to the billionaires in tax cuts, absolutely.

Instead the store is getting built and will expand later when the factories open up.

You have no plan of action. You expect to create massive deficits to give out tax cuts. Then blame the poor because you gave deficit money to the rich. Money that is not theirs. The rich using the resources such as roads provided by the state need to pay taxes.

No brainer…I thought. But for some no brainers do not occur to them.