In a World Economy that is in piecies, guess what Country in Europe has the strongest ecomony? Switzerland
Take away banking, pharmaceuticals and dodgy company laws and they'd be in the same mess as the rest of Europe. Switzerland is little more than a banana republic.
No doubt banking, pharmaceuticals and dodgy company laws are a part of the Swiss economy also add a fine tradition of precision engineering (watch /clockmaking, machine tool manufacturing, bio equipment etc) and Toblerone Cant see them planting bananas anytime soon.
But Toblerone sold out to US giants Kraft donkeys years ago. The Swiss Watch industry nearly went down the pan in the 80s and had to rebrand itself as Swatch in order to survive. i.e. It no longer trades on precision engineering but on junk jewellery (a bit like us and most of the rest of the world in my cynical view). As for bananas, it's already happening ;-)
In a World Economy that is in piecies, guess what Country in Europe has the strongest ecomony? Switzerland
Take away banking, pharmaceuticals and dodgy company laws and they'd be in the same mess as the rest of Europe. Switzerland is little more than a banana republic.
No doubt banking, pharmaceuticals and dodgy company laws are a part of the Swiss economy also add a fine tradition of precision engineering (watch /clockmaking, machine tool manufacturing, bio equipment etc) and Toblerone Cant see them planting bananas anytime soon.
But Toblerone sold out to US giants Kraft donkeys years ago. The Swiss Watch industry nearly went down the pan in the 80s and had to rebrand itself as Swatch in order to survive. i.e. It no longer trades on precision engineering but on junk jewellery (a bit like us and most of the rest of the world in my cynical view). As for bananas, it's already happening ;-)
I agree with the statement that the EU has gone beyound economics and is now driven by political agendas. This is where IMO it has gone wrong. A common market and the associated rules around that are perfectly logical but the EU has grown into a monster!
I agree with the statement that the EU has gone beyound economics and is now driven by political agendas. This is where IMO it has gone wrong. A common market and the associated rules around that are perfectly logical but the EU has grown into a monster!
Not only that, delegates with looney proposals tout around for support from others with even more far-fetched crackpot ideas - "you vote for mine and I'll vote for yours". Sensible countries like France ignore the ones they dislike but we ensure very bit of mad-cap legislation is adhered to. Are they now translating all business into the language of the new countries? They should choose one out of English, French or German and be dome with it. And choose between Brussels or Strasbourg, don't cart the whole shebang backwards and forwards. And appoint a proper auditor to scruitinise expenses.
The problem is that you can't opt out of it as some people seem to think. Most of our trade is with the EU and it is intrinsic to our prosperity. Hopefully as positive result from all the negatives of this crisis is for it to start to become what it always should have been, but I won't hold my breath.
I am no expert on these things, but I have struggled all along to see why this a "Euro" crisis - in what way has the Euro caused this? It is a crisis of the banking sector and budget deficits, neither have which have been caused or prevented by being in the Euro.
So, for example, the UK (and many other countries) have exactly the same crisis (actually bigger) without being in the Euro, so again, how is it the Euro's fault?
The main problem with the Euro is a lack of a decisive central government which is seen to have a plan: a strong, democratic Parliament, and a president - actually what the proposals from the Lison Treaty wanted to bring in a few years back, but the UK led the charge to veto that.
When people talk about countries withdrawing from the Euro to rebuild their economies, what they actually mean is that they should withdraw which will allow them to simply refuse to pay their debts back or that inflation will run so high that they will be able to pay off their national debts with a couple of wheelbarrows full of worthless bank notes.
Rather than continuing to bail out banks, the money should be given directly to citizens to decrease their mortgages.
This would increase spending and spur the economy back into growth.
QA for Prime Minister - I'd vote for you!
Hmm a 100billion handout to 20 million households in this country is only 5k each - not sure that would reduce mortgages by enough to spur the economy back into growth.
Anyway, I am off to Spain to project a picture of a 50 pound note onto the Alhambra Palace and the Prado Museum. That will teach em.
I am no expert on these things, but I have struggled all along to see why this a "Euro" crisis - in what way has the Euro caused this? It is a crisis of the banking sector and budget deficits, neither have which have been caused or prevented by being in the Euro.
So, for example, the UK (and many other countries) have exactly the same crisis (actually bigger) without being in the Euro, so again, how is it the Euro's fault?
We don't have the same crisis. We are able to borrow money with ease at very low rates of interest. Spain, Italy and Portulal can only borrow at very high rates and Greece can't borrow at all.
The problem is the Euro, or rather the fact that in the good times budgetary discipline was not enforced. If Greece was not in the Euro it could reduce the value of the drachma and/or print money allowing it to pay off its debts (the latter, qunatative easing, is what the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve have done).
I am a self confessed Ecconomic idiot so can someone please explain to me why if currently the Euro is such a turd of a currency then why is Sterling is not stronger against the Euro than it is ?
I am a self confessed Ecconomic idiot so can someone please explain to me why if currently the Euro is such a turd of a currency then why is Sterling is not stronger against the Euro than it is ?
The Euro remains a safe currency to hold. It's just that it removes any monetary room for manouver for the countries that are in trouble. For example Greece is stuck with ECB interest rates, it can't print drachmas and it can't devalue.
I am a self confessed Ecconomic idiot so can someone please explain to me why if currently the Euro is such a turd of a currency then why is Sterling is not stronger against the Euro than it is ?
The Euro remains a safe currency to hold. It's just that it removes any monetary room for manouver for the countries that are in trouble. For example Greece is stuck with ECB interest rates, it can't print drachmas and it can't devalue.
The. of course, is why countries wanting to enter the Euro were supposed to meet certain entry requirements, which were then "fudged" to allow the PIGS (Portugal, Ireland Greece and Spain) to sign up.
It was never going to work and has destroyed economies and lives.
They had a perfectly good document called the Gorwth and Stablity pact which required than no country went over a 3% budget deficit or they would be fined. Immediately France and Germany went over said they weren't going to pay any fines and changed their own rules.
And, once the banks got into trouble, so did everyone else.
SHG...sterling has appreciated 15% in the last year and is currently at levels not hit since pre-2008. Whilst it is seen as a safe(r) haven, the loose monetary policy of the Bank of England (low interest rates & QE) has a side effect (other than the main objective of trying to support/boost our economy) of depreciating sterling, which helps when it comes to exports.
Growth in the Eurozone has held up fairly well. Remember that Greece only accounts for 2% of the total Euro economy. Also, there is a rate differential with the Euro base rate set higher than sterling.
Expect GBPEUR to go to 1.30 in the next few months, but we will be held back by the fact that the EU is our main trading partner & the continued or worsening situation there will be a drag on sterling by association.
..."I just don’t think that they have the courage to do it amongst the politicians because let’s remember, because when they set up the euro the politicians who did it saw this as a step that would lead to further integration because if you’ve got a common currency, you’ll eventually have to have a common treasury, a common financial structure and it was stealth, it was trying to create a United States of Europe by stealth.".....
SHG...sterling has appreciated 15% in the last year and is currently at levels not hit since pre-2008. Whilst it is seen as a safe(r) haven, the loose monetary policy of the Bank of England (low interest rates & QE) has a side effect (other than the main objective of trying to support/boost our economy) of depreciating sterling, which helps when it comes to exports.
Growth in the Eurozone has held up fairly well. Remember that Greece only accounts for 2% of the total Euro economy. Also, there is a rate differential with the Euro base rate set higher than sterling.
Expect GBPEUR to go to 1.30 in the next few months, but we will be held back by the fact that the EU is our main trading partner & the continued or worsening situation there will be a drag on sterling by association.
Hmm a 100billion handout to 20 million households in this country is only 5k each - not sure that would reduce mortgages by enough to spur the economy back into growth.
Are there really 20 million households in the UK with private residential mortgages?
The UK has a population of around 64 million (many living in families), with a great number of households renting, plus the mortgage free, elderly, kids living at home/students, etc
SHG...sterling has appreciated 15% in the last year and is currently at levels not hit since pre-2008. Whilst it is seen as a safe(r) haven, the loose monetary policy of the Bank of England (low interest rates & QE) has a side effect (other than the main objective of trying to support/boost our economy) of depreciating sterling, which helps when it comes to exports.
Growth in the Eurozone has held up fairly well. Remember that Greece only accounts for 2% of the total Euro economy. Also, there is a rate differential with the Euro base rate set higher than sterling.
Expect GBPEUR to go to 1.30 in the next few months, but we will be held back by the fact that the EU is our main trading partner & the continued or worsening situation there will be a drag on sterling by association.
Thanks for that very clear explanation.
To add to this - the Euro has retained its strength because the Germany and other European counties are still very economically strong. However this is the route of the problem. Ineffecient southern European countries can't compete and hence are in a vicious circle while they remain the Euro. They don't have the option of weakening their currency v Germany with the result that the only answer is increased unemployment as imports are relatively cheap.
Hmm a 100billion handout to 20 million households in this country is only 5k each - not sure that would reduce mortgages by enough to spur the economy back into growth.
Are there really 20 million households in the UK with private residential mortgages?
The UK has a population of around 64 million (many living in families), with a great number of households renting, plus the mortgage free, elderly, kids living at home/students, etc
For the purpose of my maths ability - Yes....
Or lets say 10m and 10k, but give it to them in form of vouchers that must be spent by a certain date in a shop so could not be hoarded in a bank. This would guarantee shops and businesses get this money filtered through to them.
Or lets say 10m and 10k, but give it to them in form of vouchers that must be spent by a certain date in a shop so could not be hoarded in a bank. This would guarantee shops and businesses get this money filtered through to them.
The objective would be to get the money into the wider economy for the benefit of the nations' citizens. That could be in the form of shop vouchers as you say, holiday vouchers that must be spent on holidays to Greece/Spain/Portugal/Italy or even debt reduction as I suggested earlier. A good economist would know which would work the most efficiently. The most important thing would be that the funds are injected directly into the economy, rather than giving it to the banks in the hope that it will eventually find it's way to where it's needed. It never will, the banks are far too greedy and too clever for that to happen.
Ah, I see. So that makes the bankers cleverer than the Government?
I think they're both equally as clever Oggy, I believe there is collusion and conspiracy occcuring with Banks and Governments around the world, they mix in the same circles. We are the stupid one's for allowing it to happen at our cost.
Inclined to agree, QA; collusion and conspiracy ..... it has a certain ring to it.
Doesn't matter what colour the monkeys are; or even which shade of grey .....we buy their broken promises and vote for them.
Over and over.
And as you say, we are the stupid one's for allowing it to happen at our cost. But then no one held a gun to our heads and insisted we take out a mortgage, loan or line of credit.
Or lets say 10m and 10k, but give it to them in form of vouchers that must be spent by a certain date in a shop so could not be hoarded in a bank. This would guarantee shops and businesses get this money filtered through to them.
The objective would be to get the money into the wider economy for the benefit of the nations' citizens. That could be in the form of shop vouchers as you say, holiday vouchers that must be spent on holidays to Greece/Spain/Portugal/Italy or even debt reduction as I suggested earlier. A good economist would know which would work the most efficiently. The most important thing would be that the funds are injected directly into the economy, rather than giving it to the banks in the hope that it will eventually find it's way to where it's needed. It never will, the banks are far too greedy and too clever for that to happen.
Why not do it in the form of a temporary hike in the tax threshold? That way the main people that benefit are those in work, and the poorer, who will benefit most in terms of the proportion of their disposable income are those that are more likely to spend immediately and less likely to spend on holidays abroad.
Comments
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/26834366
;o)
The problem is that you can't opt out of it as some people seem to think. Most of our trade is with the EU and it is intrinsic to our prosperity. Hopefully as positive result from all the negatives of this crisis is for it to start to become what it always should have been, but I won't hold my breath.
So, for example, the UK (and many other countries) have exactly the same crisis (actually bigger) without being in the Euro, so again, how is it the Euro's fault?
The main problem with the Euro is a lack of a decisive central government which is seen to have a plan: a strong, democratic Parliament, and a president - actually what the proposals from the Lison Treaty wanted to bring in a few years back, but the UK led the charge to veto that.
When people talk about countries withdrawing from the Euro to rebuild their economies, what they actually mean is that they should withdraw which will allow them to simply refuse to pay their debts back or that inflation will run so high that they will be able to pay off their national debts with a couple of wheelbarrows full of worthless bank notes.
Anyway, I am off to Spain to project a picture of a 50 pound note onto the Alhambra Palace and the Prado Museum. That will teach em.
The problem is the Euro, or rather the fact that in the good times budgetary discipline was not enforced. If Greece was not in the Euro it could reduce the value of the drachma and/or print money allowing it to pay off its debts (the latter, qunatative easing, is what the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve have done).
It was never going to work and has destroyed economies and lives.
They had a perfectly good document called the Gorwth and Stablity pact which required than no country went over a 3% budget deficit or they would be fined. Immediately France and Germany went over said they weren't going to pay any fines and changed their own rules.
And, once the banks got into trouble, so did everyone else.
Growth in the Eurozone has held up fairly well. Remember that Greece only accounts for 2% of the total Euro economy. Also, there is a rate differential with the Euro base rate set higher than sterling.
Expect GBPEUR to go to 1.30 in the next few months, but we will be held back by the fact that the EU is our main trading partner & the continued or worsening situation there will be a drag on sterling by association.
Thanks for that very clear explanation.
Are there really 20 million households in the UK with private residential mortgages?
The UK has a population of around 64 million (many living in families), with a great number of households renting, plus the mortgage free, elderly, kids living at home/students, etc
For the purpose of my maths ability - Yes....
Or lets say 10m and 10k, but give it to them in form of vouchers that must be spent by a certain date in a shop so could not be hoarded in a bank. This would guarantee shops and businesses get this money filtered through to them.
For the purpose of my maths ability - Yes....
Or lets say 10m and 10k, but give it to them in form of vouchers that must be spent by a certain date in a shop so could not be hoarded in a bank. This would guarantee shops and businesses get this money filtered through to them.
The objective would be to get the money into the wider economy for the benefit of the nations' citizens. That could be in the form of shop vouchers as you say, holiday vouchers that must be spent on holidays to Greece/Spain/Portugal/Italy or even debt reduction as I suggested earlier. A good economist would know which would work the most efficiently. The most important thing would be that the funds are injected directly into the economy, rather than giving it to the banks in the hope that it will eventually find it's way to where it's needed. It never will, the banks are far too greedy and too clever for that to happen.
You'd hope Cameroon and his jolly crew would have some idea of how to run the country.
Doesn't matter what colour the monkeys are; or even which shade of grey .....we buy their broken promises and vote for them.
Over and over.
And as you say, we are the stupid one's for allowing it to happen at our cost. But then no one held a gun to our heads and insisted we take out a mortgage, loan or line of credit.
For the purpose of my maths ability - Yes....
Or lets say 10m and 10k, but give it to them in form of vouchers that must be spent by a certain date in a shop so could not be hoarded in a bank. This would guarantee shops and businesses get this money filtered through to them.
The objective would be to get the money into the wider economy for the benefit of the nations' citizens. That could be in the form of shop vouchers as you say, holiday vouchers that must be spent on holidays to Greece/Spain/Portugal/Italy or even debt reduction as I suggested earlier. A good economist would know which would work the most efficiently. The most important thing would be that the funds are injected directly into the economy, rather than giving it to the banks in the hope that it will eventually find it's way to where it's needed. It never will, the banks are far too greedy and too clever for that to happen.
Why not do it in the form of a temporary hike in the tax threshold? That way the main people that benefit are those in work, and the poorer, who will benefit most in terms of the proportion of their disposable income are those that are more likely to spend immediately and less likely to spend on holidays abroad.