The most people help the economy

[thinfourth2]

These evil lyrca clad warriors of evil who go out of their way to make our lives ever more hellish every single day help the economy*

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14610857

• This maybe not true

Well the evil bit might not be true but the 3 billion might be Its on the BBC would they lie

[rand hobart]

"And it says a 20% increase in cycling levels by 2015 could save millions of pounds in reduced congestion, pollution levels and NHS costs."

No chance. 20%, dream on chaps.
You couldn't get most lard arses out their cars at gun point.

[Pesty]

How did they attach a cost to the people sqished while riding them? there have been quite a few this year already by busses and trucks.

[EDLT]

How have they calculated the amount lost by the car industry (and taxes!) caused by people who dream of strapping cameras to their heads?

[AJS-]

Is there some sort of parallel universe where these people actually make sense?

[RacerMDR]

Cretins

The thousands of people on the trains everyday help the economy more I would think. 4000 a year for my ticket and the thousands that pay more or less.

Oh and the thousands of people paying car licence fee and fuel tax etc

It's so one sided and biased it's not worth reading.

[HereBeMonsters]

RacerMDR said:

Cretins

The thousands of people on the trains everyday help the economy more I would think. 4000 a year for my ticket and the thousands that pay more or less.

Oh and the thousands of people paying car licence fee and fuel tax etc

It's so one sided and biased it's not worth reading.

You're underestimating how expensive bikes are these days.

[powerstroke]

AJS- said:

Is there some sort of parallel universe where these people actually make sense?

Yes it's called the non productive economy !!! headed up by the BBC Guardian&readers most of the labour and liberal parties membership , assorted charties ,presure groups and quangos

[Digga]

powerstroke said:

AJS- said:

Is there some sort of parallel universe where these people actually make sense?

Yes it's called the non productive economy !!! headed up by the BBC Guardian&readers most of the labour and liberal parties membership , assorted charties ,presure groups and quangos

I have to declare an interest as a keen, but strictly off-road cyclist. That said, I smelled bovine excrement as soon as I saw the title of the article in Sunday's paper.

I mistakenly thought nanny had left the building when the coalition arrived? Clearly we still need to be told what to think...

[rover 623gsi]

RacerMDR said:

Cretins

The thousands of people on the trains everyday help the economy more I would think. 4000 a year for my ticket and the thousands that pay more or less.

Oh and the thousands of people paying car licence fee and fuel tax etc

It's so one sided and biased it's not worth reading.

Is it biased because the study was carried out by the LSE? Or because the particular report linked to in the OP is on the horribly left-wing BBC?

But wait! The research was commissioned by the lovely, cuddly right-wing Sky television!

I'm sure there have been, and will be in the future, plenty of research carried out about the impact of car driving to the British economy. This particular report is about cycling. I don't see the problem.

[turbobloke]

Does any of the reporting on this study, of which there is a great deal (no doubt as intended) actually link to the report? Digging into the methodology could be revealing. The study was led by Dr Alexander Grous according to the BBC but this particular piece of work doesn't appear online as yet.

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/view/year/2011.html#group...

[Blib]

rover 623gsi said:

Is it biased because the study was carried out by the LSE? Or because the particular report linked to in the OP is on the horribly left-wing BBC?

But wait! The research was commissioned by the lovely, cuddly right-wing Sky television!

I'm sure there have been, and will be in the future, plenty of research carried out about the impact of car driving to the British economy. This particular report is about cycling. I don't see the problem.

Is that the same Sky who sponsor a professional cycling team which competes in the grand tours, such as the Tour d France?

;hehe:

[rover 623gsi]

yes it is. That's why I was questioning where the bias is.

[RemainAllHoof]

I guess the losses from a drop in sales of cars, petrol duty and road tax can be off-set by a bicycle tax...

[paulrockliffe]

I ride bikes, they cost a lot of money, that money goes back into the economy, therefore my cycling helps the economy.

Except that if I didn't ride bikes, I'd have found something else to spend the money on that would also 'help' the economy.

What really helps the economy is having more people doing jobs that produce something of value or that can be exported.

[anonymous-user]

non-cyclists always miss one crucial point when trying to argue these matters and it is that almost every person i know owns a bicylce AND A CAR!!! very very few own just a bicycle and use taxis or the bus to go shopping. thus we still pay VED, insurance and tax on petrol, and only the latter in smaller quantities. there is still the servicing and the MoT to be done so there is very little money lost form the industry.

whilst there might be fewer journies completed by car, petrol is highly unlikely to ever come down much in price and as such, the increase in petrol costs could/may/possibly be balanced by the reduction in car journies thus that there is no reduction in taxes to the treasury.......

[over_the_hill]

HereBeMonsters said:

RacerMDR said:

Cretins

The thousands of people on the trains everyday help the economy more I would think. 4000 a year for my ticket and the thousands that pay more or less.

Oh and the thousands of people paying car licence fee and fuel tax etc

It's so one sided and biased it's not worth reading.

You're underestimating how expensive bikes are these days.

Report stated that £3bn generated for the economy. Yet of the 3.7 million cycles sold in 2010 only £51 million went to UK manufacturers - or £13.78 per bike !

Conclusion - the vast majority of the money is going towards other countries economies.

[paulrockliffe]

over_the_hill said:

Report stated that £3bn generated for the economy. Yet of the 3.7 million cycles sold in 2010 only £51 million went to UK manufacturers - or £13.78 per bike !

Conclusion - the vast majority of the money is going towards other countries economies.

That isn't right though, manufacturers don't make all the money, some goes to the shop, some to the distributor, which largely stays in the UK. Eg, £1000 bike, imported for £500, half the purchase price is staying in the UK.

A significant amount of that £3bn will be service/repair costs too, which would stay within the UK Economy.

[over_the_hill]

paulrockliffe said:

over_the_hill said:

Report stated that £3bn generated for the economy. Yet of the 3.7 million cycles sold in 2010 only £51 million went to UK manufacturers - or £13.78 per bike !

Conclusion - the vast majority of the money is going towards other countries economies.

That isn't right though, manufacturers don't make all the money, some goes to the shop, some to the distributor, which largely stays in the UK. Eg, £1000 bike, imported for £500, half the purchase price is staying in the UK.

A significant amount of that £3bn will be service/repair costs too, which would stay within the UK Economy.

That depends on whether the importer/distributor is UK based or not.

And for most people spending on servicing and repair will be minimal or zero - perhaps the odd new tyre or a helmet - most probably from China.

It's no different to saying we don't make cars anymore and import them, but don't worry, we have Halfords selling oil and screen wash to all of those motorists.

[Hudson]

[redacted]