Comments on: ECONOMY

By: Colin Brown

Colin Brown — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:09:22 +0000

The sole requirement written up in many UK job centres is for the applicant to speak Polish. Think about what that means for a second or two and you'll come to a startling realisation of how this new world of globalisation (anti-protectionism) works. They who work cheapest get the job. Skill, language communication, ability, common sense are classed as secondary prerequisites – if important at all..

By: Colin Brown

Colin Brown — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:01:36 +0000

Yes. Oversubscription – be it a market flooded with inferior goods or 100's of people competing for the same job has the effect of lowering the prices of goods and reducing the magin of profit made.

Does the old saying 'ten a penny' ring a bell?

By: Colin Brown

Colin Brown — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:58:46 +0000

Richard. Whether or not British Leyland produced average, poor or great cars, the very fact that existed, provided many a Brit with a steady income keeping the family unit together.

Alfa Romeo have an appalling record of their cars breaking down – yet their following is still very strong among enthusiasts today and their stil producing cars!

By: Colin Brown

Colin Brown — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:52:38 +0000

Sunday was the traditional day of rest in the UK two decades ago. Half-day Wednesday allowed local businesses to do banking and rest a little. Both of these policies were considered sound and offered a better – more relaxed pace of life.

These supermarkets are forcing the small guy to remain open far too long – which is ruining family life. Traditional values are the new way forward.

By: Chris Miller

Chris Miller — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:58:40 +0000

Im for everything said in this statement. Im currently unemployed due to the collapse of my small company. I have been a victom of the recession and now i am becoming a victom of immigrants. I applied for a job the other day and was turned down for an interview because i did not speak polish. surely if these workers are working in out warehouse they should be speaking our language.

By: Colin Brown

Colin Brown — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:12:13 +0000

Yes. Gordon Brown sold our remaining gold reserves at just £225 an ounce. One ounce of gold is currently trading at £840 today. He has to be the worst chancellor in the history of British politics.

Browns other shortcomings / misgivings are now being exposed in a very, very publicly way.

See latest EU video below.

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs

By: shaun k

shaun k — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:14:05 +0000

However, there are risks to any plan. What if the opposition got back into power and raided the post office bank? Also history teaches that when govt’s control interest rates they use this for political agendas rather than for what is best for the country. Remember the ERM? Even though the BNP would never abuse this power, it is not realistic to imagine we would always be in power, so I would keep the BoE in charge of interest rates, but with a remit to the wider economy rather than just inflation, and with mortgage and other loan interest rates separate.

Also, there are both advantages and disadvantages for free trade. Free trade doesn't work when we have to compete with a Chinese workforce on $10 a week and who have no costs related to looking after their environment. We should leave the UN and form a commonwealth or new UN of democratic, non-Islamic nations only. With similar principals and wage levels and environmental laws, we all have a level playing field. Free trade amongst such nations will ultimately be advantageous to such members.

By: shaun k

shaun k — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:13:22 +0000

Nationalise all banks? How? Buying up stock or…? The financial services industry is enormous in the UK, and many people and pension companies rely on ownership of shares in banks as an important part of their portfolios and income. Of course, the current mess indicates urgent changes are needed. Yes, a post office based national bank that is purely a savings bank would provide a safe haven for savers though would it be able to pay any interest if it did not make loans? Unlikely.

I certainly think that a single base rate is too blunt an instrument, and that there should be one rate for mortgages, and a separate rate for other loans, making this a finer instrument to manage the economy. I also think that only building societies should be able to offer mortgages, leaving the banks to concentrate solely on making loans to existing and new businesses. In this way banks would be much more careful about the amount of risk they took on board.

By: MrsJ

MrsJ — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:10:49 +0000

Unfortunately, doing it that way means that shopkeepers act as unpaid tax collectors.

By: Collin Brown

Collin Brown — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:48:12 +0000

Leight. H. A true recovery of the British economy would mean re-industrialisation on a grand scale. The only political party committed to achieving this goal is the B.N.P.

By: Collin Brown

Collin Brown — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:41:56 +0000

Labour are a totalitarian regime. They care not about the people they govern – only outsiders whom they do business with. Hence the desperate need for a B.N.P government.

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:09:05 +0000

You are joking. A car industry to be proud of? Our car industry today is arguably the best it's ever been. Sure, British Leyland folded, but they were hardly a quality British marque to be proud of!
And Rover was unfortunate, but equally, they were a British name in the same way as Woolies. Everyone sees them as a classic British icon, but actually, they're full of tat.

No, today's car industry is very strong, even if it's not quite as high-profile. Ariel, Lotus, Morgan, Caterham, Bowler. Performance engineers – Pro-Drive, Ricardo and other specialists. They're the reason many World Rally Teams and F1 Teams are based in Britain and not the manufacturer's home nation.
Even in this recession, all are surviving reasonably well. Morgan's order book has actually spiked recently since the talk that the Bank of England might start printing money – people are deciding to spend money on tangible objects rather than watch their savings devalue.

We still have Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Jag and Aston which are still designed and built here, even if the money is foreign. Same goes for Vauxhall – and there's a reason Toyota built an enormous production plant in the Midlands – they knew Britain was chock-full of superb automotive engineers. BMW have a large plant just outside OXford, and Ford make most of Europe's supply of Transit vans in Southampton. To everyone else, WE are the overseas out-sourcing solution!

And this is not to mention the cottage industry of custom/mod shops, as well as all the specialist restorers who do up old Minis, VW camper vans, etc, etc.

Take pride in your car industry. It's a good 'un.
As for most cars on the road being Japanese/Korean. I don't know, I see an awful lot of Renaults, Nissans, Volvos and other European badges out there… it's not all Pacific Rim companies.

By: royalecraig

royalecraig — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:47:40 +0000

would you need to increase these taxes, after all if the civil service is pared to the bone, why would govt need to raise these taxes anyway.
It's like town centre parking, if you go rid of the parking division in councils, got rid of the parking bods walking the streets, you wouldn't need to raise the revenue by charging people to park in the first place.
And with a reduced population, there wouldnt be congestion, see how common sense policies take care of themselves.
Just put parking back with the police, leave motorists alone, if someone parks inconsiderately or dangerously, let the police deal with it.
this country needs to go back to Good olde fashioned common sense.

By: guysey

guysey — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:59:45 +0000

i agree,axe income tax and replace this with higher taxes on goods,that way everone will pay fairly,and those who work illegally will not benefit.also the self employed will not have to worry about doing the tax returns lol

By: Leigh Harwood

Leigh Harwood — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:43:13 +0000

I fail to understand this need to 'globalise' everything in the world today. This notion of 'globalisation' in my view – is comparable to the 'team work ethic' often used in the workplace and spoken amongst the business types of today. It is a convenient means of taking away individual responsibility and accountability of people's actions.' If one person in a group of four makes a disastrous mistake, for whatever reason, all of a sudden 'it wasn't my fault – we are all part of a team'. The same applies to a countries/nations own affairs; instead of our politicans making positive and definite decisions that bring them directly to account (should the sh.. hit the fan) it is much easier to remain vague in their statements as a means of avoiding accountability and using 'political correctness' as a front to shun the ramifications of their actions. The main reason why the UK has been plunged into a full-scale recession is precisely because of 'globalisation' (as to most other countries) and so it naturally begs the question – why on earth do politicans place such emphasis on it? I am at a loss to explain such mindlessness.

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:29:33 +0000

Quite right, if we look back to the Great Depression of the 1920s, it was induced in no small part by US President Hoover imposing taxes on foreign goods to protect US goods. In return, other nations placed their own tariffs on US goods, crippling the export market. Once the domestic market was saturated, industry collapsed. We can't expect to export without importing in return.

Protecting British industry is not as simple as banning or taxing foreign imports – that's a horrific bit of economics. All it does is give a short peak in domestic sales, and then a crash when domestic and export sales collapse.

Protection is achieved by lowering taxes across the board (done by decimating government jobs, stripping out the fat that has built up, abolishing tax credits, diversity officers, pulling out of the EU as a political body, ensuring the NHS has more doctors than administrators, etc), and offering further tax breaks to companies who don't ship call centres and manufacturing out to India or the Far East. Further savings are taken by not imposing requirements for diversity officers, diversity training, printing literature in a million languages, etc. This makes British goods cheaper at source, and as a result, the British public will choose them over expensive foreign goods.

By: Keith Gray

Keith Gray — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:15:41 +0000

Winston,
Thank you for your comprehensive treatise on money, it's origin and development.
Yours is an excellent and well written explanation.

By: Keith Gray

Keith Gray — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:33:02 +0000

I recently read The Straights Times (Singapore) jobs section. All jobs on offer there specify that you must be Singaporean or PR (permanent resident) to apply for any position.
Is there a link between this requirement and the successful economy of that Island nation?
The Singapore policy is in complete contrast to the UK where an illegal immigrant can gain employment easily. Is there a link between this lack of control and the failed economy in the UK?

By: slat3r

slat3r — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:36:07 +0000

How can the government expect to sort out the current financial situation when we don't make sure we ourselves are first safe for the next few years before we look into hellping others.

By: Winston

Winston — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:20:09 +0000

WHERE DOES MONEY COME FROM?

Part 9B

The Invisible Power

"We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time magazine and other great
publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected the promises of discretion
for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if
we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more
sophisticated and prepared to march towards a WORLD-GOVERNMENT. The supranational sovereignty
of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the National autodetermination
practiced in past centuries"
~ David Rockefeller in an address to a Trilateral Commission meeting in June of 1991

Only the small secrets need to be protected.
The big ones are kept secret by public incredulity.”
~ Marshall McLuhan, media “guru”

THE END

“Money as Debt” owes its origins to the work of many dedicated educators and advocates of
monetary reform.
MONEY AS DEBT
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-90504743...