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Green shoots?


trousers

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Thread closed. Thanks to everyone for their participation. I'll start another one up in 5 years or so once Labour have buggered things up again.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/16/imf-chief-hails-uk-economic-recovery

And it only took them 4.5 years to get things sorted.

 

Our strength compared to Europe is almost entirely thanks to Gordon Brown's refusal to join the Euro and the ECB's refusal to use quantitative easing

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And it only took them 4.5 years to get things sorted.

 

Our strength compared to Europe is almost entirely thanks to Gordon Brown's refusal to join the Euro and the ECB's refusal to use quantitative easing

 

How quickly do you think it could have been sorted? 4.5 years is not unreasonable, but we're certainly not out of the woods yet although we may be heading in the right direction at last.

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Thread closed. Thanks to everyone for their participation. I'll start another one up in 5 years or so once Labour have buggered things up again.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/16/imf-chief-hails-uk-economic-recovery

 

"a growth that is more inclusive, that is better shared, and a growth that is also sustainable and more balanced"

 

Lol

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"Only"? Did you not see the size of the hole that Labour left behind to climb out of?

 

I did. It was nearly half the size the Tories have grown it to now. Borrowing this year will be 6% higher than last year. Lets not be confused - we haven't climbed out of the hole, we have continued to dig a deeper one. Good and reasonably balanced pieces from the Telegraph here about why the deficit has continued to grow.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11168941/Why-are-we-still-failing-to-reduce-the-deficit.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11117335/Just-how-big-is-Britains-debt-mountain.html

Edited by buctootim
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I did. It was nearly half the size the Tories have grown it to now. Borrowing this year will be 6% higher than last year. Lets not be confused - we haven't climbed out of the hole, we have continued to dig a deeper one. Good and reasonably balanced pieces from the Telegraph here about why the deficit has continued to grow.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11168941/Why-are-we-still-failing-to-reduce-the-deficit.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11117335/Just-how-big-is-Britains-debt-mountain.html

 

I'm confused (easily done)....of course, until the "deficit" is eliminated, "debt" will continue to increase. That's simple economics/mathematics. But, surely, endeavours to eliminate the "deficit" is desirable? The alternative being that borrowing (aka "the debt") increases forever more....

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Surely, endeavours to eliminate the "deficit" is desirable? The alternative being that borrowing (aka "the debt") increases forever more....

 

Very true. Ergo it is undesirable that borrowing will be 6% higher this year than last - after 4.5 years of the Tories promises to eliminate the deficit. Would seem to be a clear case of catastrophic failure of their Government, wouldn't you agree?

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Very true. Ergo it is undesirable that borrowing will be 6% higher this year than last - after 4.5 years of the Tories promises to eliminate the deficit. Would seem to be a clear case of catastrophic failure of their Government, wouldn't you agree?

You're being deliberately obtuse. They didn't promise to eliminate the deficit on the day after they got elected, as you well know.

 

At least now we're heading out of the hole instead of deeper into it.

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You're being deliberately obtuse. They didn't promise to eliminate the deficit on the day after they got elected, as you well know.

 

At least now we're heading out of the hole instead of deeper into it.

 

Im not sure which part you think is obtuse or that you aren't understanding. New government borrowing will be the same this year as last year, possibly higher. That isn't making progress to eliminating the deficit and it is digging a deeper hole.

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Very true. Ergo it is undesirable that borrowing will be 6% higher this year than last - after 4.5 years of the Tories promises to eliminate the deficit. Would seem to be a clear case of catastrophic failure of their Government, wouldn't you agree?

No, missing a debt reduction target is not a "catastrophic failure... Not bothering to try would have been though.....

Edited by trousers
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No, missing a debt reduction target is not a "catastrophic failure"....not even trying to reduce it would have been though.....

 

I forgot, you're a Tory. There is no failure, just change the definition of success. We promised to do x; we got elected to do x; we tried to do x; we didn't achieve x. I declare success and change the target.

Edited by buctootim
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Im not sure which part you think is obtuse or that you aren't understanding. New government borrowing will be the same this year as last year, possibly higher. That isn't making progress to eliminating the deficit and it is digging a deeper hole.

 

The deficit would have grown even further under a Labour government. Turning round an economy takes years, not months.

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statistically, there is very little difference in the % of GDP spent by the government under labour and tory governernments.

labour kept public spending well under control until the banking crisis,and Thatcher took many years to get spending down to the historical average of not too far north of 40%.

 

Not saying what is good and bad in all of that, just what actually happened.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/apr/25/uk-public-spending-1963

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  • 3 months later...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32719779

 

The number of people out of work in the January to March period fell to 1.83 million, down 35,000 from the previous quarter and the lowest for seven years.

 

At the same time, the total number in work rose to 31.1 million.

 

Average pay for employees, excluding bonuses, rose by 2.2% in the quarter compared with a year earlier.

 

Including the effect of bonus payments, average pay rose by 1.9% over the same period.

 

The figures mean that regular pay is now growing at its fastest rate for nearly four years.

 

It is also the seventh month in a row that the rate of regular pay increases has outstripped the prevailing annual rate of inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index.

 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said a further 202,000 people were in work in the January to March period, boosting the overall level of employment in the UK.

 

It said this meant the employment rate was now at 73.5%, its highest since records began in 1971.

 

On the other side of the coin, the unemployment rate fell to 5.5% in the January to March period, the lowest rate since the middle of 2008.

 

That was down from 5.7% in the October to December quarter and lower than the 6.8% level recorded a year ago.

 

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, the old claimant count, fell by 12,600 in April to 764,000.

 

John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, said the British economy had become "an incredible job-creating machine".

 

"There are also more convincing signs than ever before that this extra demand for labour is causing the market to tighten, pushing up regular pay growth to 2.2%," he said.

 

"With consumer price inflation stuck at zero, workers are experiencing solid real pay rises for the first time since the recession," he added.

 

The Institute of Directors (IoD) said it expected real wages to keep on rising.

 

"Now that the economy is growing, employees are naturally looking for real terms increases in their salaries," said IoD spokesman James Sproule.

 

"IoD members tell us that they are able to increase wages because of improved corporate performance, meaning these wage increases are sustainable."

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And, for balance...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32720772

 

The Bank of England has cut its 2015 growth forecast from 2.9% to 2.5%, and for next year from 2.9% to 2.6%, as governor Mark Carney unveiled his quarterly inflation report.

 

The Bank also downgraded expectations for wage growth in 2015 from 3.5% to 2.5%.

 

Meanwhile, Mr Carney warned of "underlying weakness" as the Bank gave a gloomier picture for productivity growth. The Bank revised down its productivity forecast because it sees a disproportionate number of new jobs as low-skilled and low-output.

 

Productivity growth is now expected to improve only modestly in the coming year before remaining below past average rates.

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