22 replies to this topic

[Still Waters]

www.dailymail.co.uk said:

Just for a moment, imagine being a tourist in search of the full British experience. Where would you start? Well, you might take a sight-seeing trip around London on a red double-decker bus.

You’d possibly visit a quintessentially British store, such as Boots the chemist, Selfridges or Harrods, before having a proper English tea at the Savoy, Fortnum & Mason or the Dorchester.

You’d almost certainly go home, via a British airport, thinking you’d seen a slice of the real Britain. But, in one sense at least, you’d be totally wrong.

Read more...

[Mr Right Wing]

GDP PPP shows £150 bill flowing out per year -

http://en.wikipedia..../United_Kingdom

We are getting poorer.

Edited by Mr Right Wing, 14 April 2012 - 02:34 PM.

[Subsonicjourno]

not exactly news, we haven't made much in decades.   sigh

[questionmark]

Happens when you want to be a "service society". sooner or later those who provide real goods own everything you used to have.

[Babe Ruth]

The question is, are the events you describe planned, or spontaneous?  

[questionmark]

Babe Ruth, on 14 April 2012 - 08:14 PM, said:

The question is, are the events you describe planned, or spontaneous?  

Depends how you want to see it. In the 80s there were some brilliant boys in Harvard who had this brilliant idea that the society of the future would mostly earn its keep by providing services. In two countries the politicians lapped that up and started to convert it into a concrete project. Those are the two countries that are most precarious in as far as a economic future, namely the US of A and Great Britain. And the involved politicians were Lady Thatcher and Sir Ronald Reagan.

While the Harvard theory sounded quite interesting it has a flaw:  You cannot sustain a economy where half sell hamburger and the other half clean the windows of the hamburger stand. That economy is over as soon as they run out of hamburger.

Or in plain English: As soon as the last producing factory has been closed you will notice that you can't survive on paper and window washing water.

[Simbi Laveau]

The USA does this too.
I mean the Japanese own Disney,and part of the nyc theater district.I think we've cut back on it,but we are a lot bigger than you are ,size wise.We still own most of the country.

[stevewinn]

Has long as the Companies stay in the UK who cares who owns it? what this says is we are open for business and investment. is it any wonder the UK has the most foreign investment in the whole of europe. we are a country which is part of the global economy. not some little european back water. the UK is shifting back towards manufacturing, but the right sort of manufacturing, we dont want to go back to the old dirty heavy manufacturing of yesteryear. the heavy dangerous polluting. The UK is in a great position to build a future of clean - lean manufacturing, we have the space left by the old style manufacturing to expand into, it's no wonder foreign companies are investing and buying British.

I'd be more worried if foreign companies were not investing or buying British. then we'd have problems.

[questionmark]

stevewinn, on 15 April 2012 - 10:34 AM, said:

Has long as the Companies stay in the UK who cares who owns it? what this says is we are open for business and investment. is it any wonder the UK has the most foreign investment in the whole of europe. we are a country which is part of the global economy. not some little european back water. the UK is shifting back towards manufacturing, but the right sort of manufacturing, we dont want to go back to the old dirty heavy manufacturing of yesteryear. the heavy dangerous polluting. The UK is in a great position to build a future of clean - lean manufacturing, we have the space left by the old style manufacturing to expand into, it's no wonder foreign companies are investing and buying British.

I'd be more worried if foreign companies were not investing or buying British. then we'd have problems.

Does the MG Rover precedent still make you think that? At the end there was that left that made money,the rest was junked. And as British politicians don't have any leverage obver foreign firms those will cut British jobs first come bad times and keep their domestic production.

[itsnotoutthere]

questionmark, on 14 April 2012 - 08:39 PM, said:

Depends how you want to see it. In the 80s there were some brilliant boys in Harvard who had this brilliant idea that the society of the future would mostly earn its keep by providing services. In two countries the politicians lapped that up and started to convert it into a concrete project. Those are the two countries that are most precarious in as far as a economic future, namely the US of A and Great Britain. And the involved politicians were Lady Thatcher and Sir Ronald Reagan.

While the Harvard theory sounded quite interesting it has a flaw:  You cannot sustain a economy where half sell hamburger and the other half clean the windows of the hamburger stand. That economy is over as soon as they run out of hamburger.

Or in plain English: As soon as the last producing factory has been closed you will notice that you can't survive on paper and window washing water.

I don't think we need to panic too much, think i'd be more worried if i lived in Greece :- http://www.nationmas...omy-gdp-nominal

 eu-gdp.jpg   103.26K   2 downloads

Edited by itsnotoutthere, 15 April 2012 - 11:53 AM.

[questionmark]

itsnotoutthere, on 15 April 2012 - 11:47 AM, said:

I don't think we need to panic too much, think i'd be more worried if i lived in Greece :- http://www.nationmas...omy-gdp-nominal

eu-gdp.jpg

No?, well everybody on welfare, who produces nothing but goes to buy a case of beer increases the GDP, so does every chair farting civil servant. If Britain does not create at least 50% of its GDP by production soon it will be redundant, as any other country that falls under that margin.

[itsnotoutthere]

questionmark, on 15 April 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:

No?, well everybody on welfare, who produces nothing but goes to buy a case of beer increases the GDP, so does every chair farting civil servant. If Britain does not create at least 50% of its GDP by production soon it will be redundant, as any other country that falls under that margin.

Sounds like you're praying for the day.
And both those examples you give increased significantly under the last socialist government. (as happened in Greece)
After 14 years in power & in charge of the economy Labour Treasury Chief Secretary left a note for the incoming Chief Secretary "I'm afraid there is no money." It says it all really.

Edited by itsnotoutthere, 15 April 2012 - 12:23 PM.

[TheLastLazyGun]

questionmark, on 15 April 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:

If Britain does not create at least 50% of its GDP by production soon it will be redundant,

No, it won't.  Manufacturing is so yesterday in the West.  I can't think of any Western country where manufacturing is more that 50% of its GDP.

Britain's service sector is not much larger than Germany's, a country which a lot of people assume has got a large manufacturing sector.  Services account for 73% of the UK GDP and 71% of the German GDP.

Edited by TheLastLazyGun, 15 April 2012 - 02:47 PM.

[stevewinn]

questionmark, on 15 April 2012 - 11:23 AM, said:

Does the MG Rover precedent still make you think that? At the end there was that left that made money,the rest was junked. And as British politicians don't have any leverage obver foreign firms those will cut British jobs first come bad times and keep their domestic production.

for every - MG example we have TATA and Jaguar Land Rover etc...

[questionmark]

stevewinn, on 15 April 2012 - 03:52 PM, said:

for every - MG example we have TATA and Jaguar Land Rover etc...

Which is the same story, Ford had domestic problems and first closed or sold off its foreign holdings, as soon as TATA has domestic problems it will be the same story again, once they have salvaged Land Rover and Jaguar for all usable technology. Maybe the Chinese will be interested in dismantling the rest afterward.