Union campaigners are in it together

“Louis,
10bn Euros is approx 1% of their total spending and will bring it down to 56% of French GDP. Even govt forecasts have debt peaking at +90% and staying there. I think it's quite reasonable to call them that.”

“Given the number of economic geniuses we seem to have right here in Plymouth, judging by these comments, it's no wonder the city has become the thriving powerhouse of wealth and industry it is today.”

“strighthander: "If you want to see how a spend, spend, spend govt gets on then just keep an eye on how France fares"

In their budget in September 2012, the French announced 10billion euros in spending cuts. Considerably more than Osborne's £2billion spending cut in his 2012 budget. I'm not sure how you can call France a "spend, spend, spend govt" in the face of those figures.

http://tinyurl.com/8g79one”

“Tim Plymouth said: "That's why the per person figure is more telling." The per person figure is irrelevant. When it comes to repaying debts it doesn't matter how many people a country has it matters how productive all of them added together are. There is a name for their combined productivity. It is called GDP.

Thankfully our debt as a percentage of gdp is at historically low levels.”

“And the rise in gas and electricity which is at least another hundred ..... all without a pay rise because everyone is now led to believe in asking for one makes you feel guilty or risks losing your job ? Screwed -taxed - screwed. The good news is ..... foriegn aid is ringfenced.
Taxed or screwd to the hilt . Bled dry .And they wonder why people want cheap booze or baccy bought in by the back door ?”

“@ kazzyb

Thanks for your reply.
So regional pay is to be based on a figure pulled out of thin air rather than a realistic assessment of the cost of being here and getting to work here. And the MPs who will probably vote for this on our behalf won't be affected by it.
There's a novelty.”

“Louis
You seem to have a strong opinion on this but if what you say is true why does everyone else think we're in a mess?
And, by everyone I mean independent commentators as well as politicians.”

“If you want to see how a spend, spend, spend govt gets on then just keep an eye on how France fares. In big trouble by next year in my opinion.
Forget about historic deficit to GDP - we've never had population profile like we have now. An aging population will be expensive to look after.”

“It is a huge number, especially when you divide it by the number of people in the country. Even more so if you divide it by the number of economically active people in the country.

The debt per GDP is not the golden indicator you seem to think it is. Much of our GDP is service based and can easily evaporate. The financial services contribution to GDP is particularly ethereal. If you tried to tax it seriously much of it would magically disappear to Switzerland or Luxembourg. That's why the per person figure is more telling.

I didn't say we were Greece, did I? Greece and Ireland are undoubtedly at the bottom of the slippery slope. Italy and Spain are halfway down. For the reasons I mentioned earlier it is undoubtedly slippery. Once you start to lose confidence it's extremely hard to get it back and you end up having to cut by more than you would have if you made the cuts voluntarily in the first place. By cutting our deficit we can avoid the slope altogether.

And no, I didn't say consumer taxes were 'optional' but the ability of a government to tax someone is directly affected by their ability to pay. If you try to tax people into poverty the taxes simply don't get paid.”

“(At least you have shifted from the utter banality of 'derr a trillion is a big number')”