Cost of living squeeze in 2022
Discussion
skwdenyer said:
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If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at a "RoadPrinter" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8C0vhwR40s&ab...
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That has to be one of the dullest videos on YouTube If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at a "RoadPrinter" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8C0vhwR40s&ab...
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I'm also not sure what it proves...I may have nodded off during it, but how many metres per man hour get laid (for the whole process - base, sets, sand etc etc).
I agree with the productivity premise very much... Just a shame the video "evidence" isn't more impressive
Murph7355 said:
skwdenyer said:
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If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at a "RoadPrinter" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8C0vhwR40s&ab...
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That has to be one of the dullest videos on YouTube If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at a "RoadPrinter" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8C0vhwR40s&ab...
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I'm also not sure what it proves...I may have nodded off during it, but how many metres per man hour get laid (for the whole process - base, sets, sand etc etc).
I agree with the productivity premise very much... Just a shame the video "evidence" isn't more impressive
This one is a touch more concise: https://youtu.be/m89khGGrM_4However, the main productivity booster is that the workers don't have to be down on their hands and knees all day, with constant movement of materials and so on. They can lay as many blocks in the last hour as in the first; overall, experience shows a productivity gain of 20-30%. But because those people can work simultaneously, the overall project productivity can be far higher - some estimates speak of a 5-fold reduction in overall project duration.
There are of course lots of other examples; that one is just relatively easy to understand and visualise.
The UK is just too used to a low-investment way of working. The much-vaunted transition to a higher-wage economy requires investment. Not just private investment, but access to cheap investment capital and an appropriate tax framework (not necessarily lower taxes, but a different structure) to incentivise objectives of national interest.
Until we can fix the productivity gap, we're either condemned to lower wages, or reliant upon a falling pound. Neither is desirable.
JagLover said:
As part of the German emergency energy plans they can pass on higher Gas prices to consumers to cut demand. Strong open and staged policy. Welshbeef said:
Throttlebody said:
UK Consumer Confidence hits a record low. The latest GfK index drops to the lowest on record.
This will be playing on the minds of the BOE panel. The weights on pushing up rates are vanishing as every day passes. This is good news indeed.
Some incredibly myopic comments criticising the UK with apparently zero clue about how similarly f
ked so many other European and G20 economies are. More often than not identical or worse problems with productivity/labour/property/shortages/whatever.
If it was just the UK that would be a problem but when it's all over the place that's a proper problem and beyond the shallow solutions some people think exist.
We are all so fked and narrow little obsessions with particular countries to back your own prejudices really aren't going to help.
ked so many other European and G20 economies are. More often than not identical or worse problems with productivity/labour/property/shortages/whatever.If it was just the UK that would be a problem but when it's all over the place that's a proper problem and beyond the shallow solutions some people think exist.
We are all so f
ked and narrow little obsessions with particular countries to back your own prejudices really aren't going to help. Throttlebody said:
Welshbeef said:
Throttlebody said:
UK Consumer Confidence hits a record low. The latest GfK index drops to the lowest on record.
This will be playing on the minds of the BOE panel. The weights on pushing up rates are vanishing as every day passes. This is good news indeed.
skwdenyer said:
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Until we can fix the productivity gap, we're either condemned to lower wages, or reliant upon a falling pound. Neither is desirable.
If I didn't note it, I totally agree with you here and have been banging that drum for a while.Until we can fix the productivity gap, we're either condemned to lower wages, or reliant upon a falling pound. Neither is desirable.
This isn't a "current govt" issue, though. It's been prevalent in every govt for the last 30yrs. I can see it being a problem for the foreseeable as not one party has proposed any policies to combat it. Well, not quite. The Tories "levelling up" agenda, and talk of investing strategically in industries that would have a chance of improving it all sounded great. Sadly they seem to be forgetting them...
loafer123 said:
The BoE will increase rates to the extent required to keep the pound reasonably stable, but not more in my view.
That was the basis of their last decision - they could see demand and confidence collapsing, and therefore no need to use interest rates to make it worse.
The mandate of the BoE isn't to keep the pound stable......... FX rates are not (or should not) be the primary consideration for what they are doing wrt to base rates.That was the basis of their last decision - they could see demand and confidence collapsing, and therefore no need to use interest rates to make it worse.
Murph7355 said:
skwdenyer said:
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Until we can fix the productivity gap, we're either condemned to lower wages, or reliant upon a falling pound. Neither is desirable.
If I didn't note it, I totally agree with you here and have been banging that drum for a while.Until we can fix the productivity gap, we're either condemned to lower wages, or reliant upon a falling pound. Neither is desirable.
This isn't a "current govt" issue, though. It's been prevalent in every govt for the last 30yrs. I can see it being a problem for the foreseeable as not one party has proposed any policies to combat it. Well, not quite. The Tories "levelling up" agenda, and talk of investing strategically in industries that would have a chance of improving it all sounded great. Sadly they seem to be forgetting them...
Who has "got it right"?
Is it solely lack of UK government impetus, or are there other factors at play?
This probably deserves a thread of its own.
isaldiri said:
loafer123 said:
The BoE will increase rates to the extent required to keep the pound reasonably stable, but not more in my view.
That was the basis of their last decision - they could see demand and confidence collapsing, and therefore no need to use interest rates to make it worse.
The mandate of the BoE isn't to keep the pound stable......... FX rates are not (or should not) be the primary consideration for what they are doing wrt to base rates.That was the basis of their last decision - they could see demand and confidence collapsing, and therefore no need to use interest rates to make it worse.
GBP stability has a huge impact on inflation, which IS a mandate of the BoE.
oyster said:
isaldiri said:
loafer123 said:
The BoE will increase rates to the extent required to keep the pound reasonably stable, but not more in my view.
That was the basis of their last decision - they could see demand and confidence collapsing, and therefore no need to use interest rates to make it worse.
The mandate of the BoE isn't to keep the pound stable......... FX rates are not (or should not) be the primary consideration for what they are doing wrt to base rates.That was the basis of their last decision - they could see demand and confidence collapsing, and therefore no need to use interest rates to make it worse.
GBP stability has a huge impact on inflation, which IS a mandate of the BoE.
A significant depreciation in the exchange rate is very likely to cause inflation to increase further.
skwdenyer said:
Productivity is not really constrained by supply-side issues. We just have a rubbish economy with very little productivity upside potential without major investment, and a culture of short-term gains rather than investing for the long term.
Here's a simple example: laying block paving. In Germany and some other countries, machine laying has been the norm for many years, even on the smallest jobs. Here in the UK? Of course not - that would require investment. So we stick with low-productivity approaches and then are surprised when our economy doesn't grow.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at a "RoadPrinter" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8C0vhwR40s&ab...
You say "While we are at a time where we as a nation need to pull together to drive up productivity and improve our supply chain, instead we are seeing many organisation going on strike or voting to go on strike." Why? Why should this be "pull together" (for which read, just swallow real-terms drops in wages on top of years of wage stagnation) when we know so many companies are not going to invest in proper productivity-boosters. There needs to be a sense of pulling together, yes, but also a sense of benefiting together as a result, something that's most absent in the UK.
I blame the city for most of our economic problems !Here's a simple example: laying block paving. In Germany and some other countries, machine laying has been the norm for many years, even on the smallest jobs. Here in the UK? Of course not - that would require investment. So we stick with low-productivity approaches and then are surprised when our economy doesn't grow.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at a "RoadPrinter" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8C0vhwR40s&ab...
You say "While we are at a time where we as a nation need to pull together to drive up productivity and improve our supply chain, instead we are seeing many organisation going on strike or voting to go on strike." Why? Why should this be "pull together" (for which read, just swallow real-terms drops in wages on top of years of wage stagnation) when we know so many companies are not going to invest in proper productivity-boosters. There needs to be a sense of pulling together, yes, but also a sense of benefiting together as a result, something that's most absent in the UK.
Edited by skwdenyer on Thursday 23 June 16:30
Bunch of asset stripping tossers …
turbobloke said:
oyster said:
isaldiri said:
loafer123 said:
The BoE will increase rates to the extent required to keep the pound reasonably stable, but not more in my view.
That was the basis of their last decision - they could see demand and confidence collapsing, and therefore no need to use interest rates to make it worse.
The mandate of the BoE isn't to keep the pound stable......... FX rates are not (or should not) be the primary consideration for what they are doing wrt to base rates.That was the basis of their last decision - they could see demand and confidence collapsing, and therefore no need to use interest rates to make it worse.
GBP stability has a huge impact on inflation, which IS a mandate of the BoE.
A significant depreciation in the exchange rate is very likely to cause inflation to increase further.
oyster said:
I'm pretty sure loafer123 is smarter than you're alluding to.
GBP stability has a huge impact on inflation, which IS a mandate of the BoE.
I'm not alluding to anything wrt to loafer123. I'm merely stating that the BoE is not going to be raising rates primarily to stabilise the pound as was being suggested per this earlier part of his post 'BoE will increase rates to the extent required to keep the pound reasonably stable'.GBP stability has a huge impact on inflation, which IS a mandate of the BoE.
isaldiri said:
I'm not alluding to anything wrt to loafer123. I'm merely stating that the BoE is not going to be raising rates primarily to stabilise the pound as was being suggested per this earlier part of his post 'BoE will increase rates to the extent required to keep the pound reasonably stable'.
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