The Party's Over: How the West Went Bust
Discussion
Beyond the irritations of dear Robert, there were a few points which struck home:
Despite modest incomes, Chinese workers typically saved between 30% to 50% of their income whereas Western employees saved nothing. Pointed out this is inverted because expanding economies should be borrowing to boost investment in factories and infrastructure, whereas flat-line economies should be saving to fund cost of an ageing population. Occurred to me that lack of Chinese borrowing was probably offset by the Chinese accepting relatively low incomes which are still far greater than those enjoyed by the previous generation. Wonder how long their tolerance will remain?
It took the west 30 years for western economies to get into this mess, which is continuing to compound three years after the crash. Will it take another 30 years for the west to surface again?
Followed by a program about the successful Rolls Royce Trent turbo-fan engine which dominates the large passenger aircraft market. Very high tech, high value and profitable business which is principally British. More encouraging than reliance on our vunerable finance "industry" and the variances of the housing market. Could Rolls Royce be a template for Britain's future success?
Despite modest incomes, Chinese workers typically saved between 30% to 50% of their income whereas Western employees saved nothing. Pointed out this is inverted because expanding economies should be borrowing to boost investment in factories and infrastructure, whereas flat-line economies should be saving to fund cost of an ageing population. Occurred to me that lack of Chinese borrowing was probably offset by the Chinese accepting relatively low incomes which are still far greater than those enjoyed by the previous generation. Wonder how long their tolerance will remain?
It took the west 30 years for western economies to get into this mess, which is continuing to compound three years after the crash. Will it take another 30 years for the west to surface again?
Followed by a program about the successful Rolls Royce Trent turbo-fan engine which dominates the large passenger aircraft market. Very high tech, high value and profitable business which is principally British. More encouraging than reliance on our vunerable finance "industry" and the variances of the housing market. Could Rolls Royce be a template for Britain's future success?
Willy Nilly said:
530dTPhil said:
Balmoral Green said:
Well, he should know, he caused it. Well, him and the BBC.
Exactly this.He is the most annoying person on television.
t they didn't need with money they didn't have
and most of it using PFIbigdog3 said:
Despite modest incomes, Chinese workers typically saved between 30% to 50% of their income whereas Western employees saved nothing. Pointed out this is inverted because expanding economies should be borrowing to boost investment in factories and infrastructure, whereas flat-line economies should be saving to fund cost of an ageing population. Occurred to me that lack of Chinese borrowing was probably offset by the Chinese accepting relatively low incomes which are still far greater than those enjoyed by the previous generation. Wonder how long their tolerance will remain?
It's Chinese (and Asian in general) culture to save. Has been for centuries. Everyone out here is looking at the insanity of places like the UK, it's public sector, and it's huge personal debt levels - its not a model anyone out here aspires to.Eric Mc said:
You do realise that Peston has fought (successfully) to overcome a serious speech impediment and that his speech patterns are partly his technique to counteract this - very similar to the technique used by King George VI.
Even if your general point is correct I would strongly disagree with "successfully". His delivery is disjointed and I find it annoying to the point of unacceptable. How he gets away with it on national TV is beyond understanding. What's more, I'm far from convinced he's even 50% as smart as some people believe. Ozzie Osmond said:
Even if your general point is correct I would strongly disagree with "successfully". His delivery is disjointed and I find it annoying to the point of unacceptable. How he gets away with it on national TV is beyond understanding. What's more, I'm far from convinced he's even 50% as smart as some people believe.
I couldn't agree more, if his father wasn't a Labour Peer i'm quite sure we would have never have heard a stuttering word from the irritant that is Robert Peston. The impartial BBC at it's finest, a Labour Lords son as the editor of BBC Business news 
Ozzie Osmond said:
Eric Mc said:
You do realise that Peston has fought (successfully) to overcome a serious speech impediment and that his speech patterns are partly his technique to counteract this - very similar to the technique used by King George VI.
Even if your general point is correct I would strongly disagree with "successfully". His delivery is disjointed and I find it annoying to the point of unacceptable. How he gets away with it on national TV is beyond understanding. What's more, I'm far from convinced he's even 50% as smart as some people believe. Eric Mc said:
I don't mind his speech pattern - but I don't always feel he sums things up accurately. But then again, what economic correspondent gets it right all the time? Indeed, what economist gets it right all the time?
I do find the stuttered mess of words hard to decipher at times and part of me hates him with a vengance for being Winkys hand-puppet (as I see it) for so long, but of late he's redeemed himself.His bit on the preamble to the Osbourne's autumn budget was pretty damning of Brown and the legacy left by Labour. This latest effort seems another attempt (perhaps by way of redress) to 'correct' the recieved wisdom in the UK, especially to de-rail the idiotic rhetoric of the unions, and instill a sense of global realism to BBC viewers.
bigdog3 said:
Beyond the irritations of dear Robert, there were a few points which struck home:
Despite modest incomes, Chinese workers typically saved between 30% to 50% of their income whereas Western employees saved nothing. Pointed out this is inverted because expanding economies should be borrowing to boost investment in factories and infrastructure, whereas flat-line economies should be saving to fund cost of an ageing population. Occurred to me that lack of Chinese borrowing was probably offset by the Chinese accepting relatively low incomes which are still far greater than those enjoyed by the previous generation. Wonder how long their tolerance will remain?
It took the west 30 years for western economies to get into this mess, which is continuing to compound three years after the crash. Will it take another 30 years for the west to surface again?
Prudence hasn't been a common attitude recently in the west. Using years of boom to spend, spend, spend and borrow, borrow, borrow, then wailing when there's no money in the years of bust seems ridiculous. National (and personal) debt should be paid down/off in the boom years to build security against a bust.Despite modest incomes, Chinese workers typically saved between 30% to 50% of their income whereas Western employees saved nothing. Pointed out this is inverted because expanding economies should be borrowing to boost investment in factories and infrastructure, whereas flat-line economies should be saving to fund cost of an ageing population. Occurred to me that lack of Chinese borrowing was probably offset by the Chinese accepting relatively low incomes which are still far greater than those enjoyed by the previous generation. Wonder how long their tolerance will remain?
It took the west 30 years for western economies to get into this mess, which is continuing to compound three years after the crash. Will it take another 30 years for the west to surface again?
bigdog3 said:
Followed by a program about the successful Rolls Royce Trent turbo-fan engine which dominates the large passenger aircraft market. Very high tech, high value and profitable business which is principally British. More encouraging than reliance on our vunerable finance "industry" and the variances of the housing market. Could Rolls Royce be a template for Britain's future success?
There are lots of less high-profile companies doing the same. The problem from a mass-employment point of view is that high tech, high value and profitable usually equates to lean manufacturing and minimal workforce. ewenm said:
There are lots of less high-profile companies doing the same. The problem from a mass-employment point of view is that high tech, high value and profitable usually equates to lean manufacturing and minimal workforce. High relative wages in western economies means we can't afford to be labour intensive. This could be redressed if semi or unskilled workers are willing to accept much lower incomes, like China or Mexico. End of prosperity for the common man?
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