We are all getting robbed at the pumps!, does anyone care?.
Discussion
TooMany2cvs said:
All of which is why anybody who thinks they could solve the economic issues of one of the world's biggest and most complex economies in half an hour on their first day in No 11 is clearly an idiot with absolutely zero comprehension of the subject they profess to be an expert in.
aaaaaaannnndd step forward Ed Balls and the labour party!TooMany2cvs said:
Is all "debt" a bad thing?
If somebody has debt of half their annual income, is that bad?
If somebody has debt of three times their annual income, that must be worse, surely?
But what if that first debt is credit card bills for shopaholic tat, whilst that second debt is a mortgage?
Some countries have very low levels of national debt. North Korea's debt is virtually zero. If you look at the list of debt-to-GDP, virtually every country with national debt below about 50% of GDP is in the developing world - because they don't trade much internationally.
When debt incurs £50bn a year in interest, that's a bad thing.If somebody has debt of half their annual income, is that bad?
If somebody has debt of three times their annual income, that must be worse, surely?
But what if that first debt is credit card bills for shopaholic tat, whilst that second debt is a mortgage?
Some countries have very low levels of national debt. North Korea's debt is virtually zero. If you look at the list of debt-to-GDP, virtually every country with national debt below about 50% of GDP is in the developing world - because they don't trade much internationally.
Incidentally whether a country trades internationally has bugger all to do with the national debt level.
irocfan said:
aaaaaaannnndd step forward Ed Balls and the labour party!
You may very well think that, I couldn't possibly comment.Dr Jekyll said:
When debt incurs £50bn a year in interest, that's a bad thing.
Scary big number!What percentage of your household expenditure is interest on your credit card, mortgage, car lease, insurance monthly payments, any other debt? I'll bet it's more than £1 in every £15, which is what that is compared to total Gov't expenditure. The UK pays very low interest rates on that debt, because we're viewed by the world as being a very safe borrower.
Edited by TooMany2cvs on Thursday 5th March 18:04
TooMany2cvs said:
Dr Jekyll said:
When debt incurs £50bn a year in interest, that's a bad thing.
Scary big number!What percentage of your household expenditure is interest on your credit card, mortgage, car lease, insurance monthly payments, any other debt? I'll bet it's more than £1 in every £15, which is what that is compared to total Gov't expenditure. The UK pays very low interest rates on that debt, because we're viewed by the world as being a very safe borrower.
Dr Jekyll said:
Secondly if the govt can't reduce the rate of increase we may suddenly find we aren't regarded as a safe borrower any more.
Which, of course, is exactly why they've prioritised reducing the deficit - and have halved it (as a proportion of GDP, which is the most relevant measure) in the last five years.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff