[Traduk]

Ignitionnet,

>>Also of note is that during the 30s the UK adopted a monetarist approach to recovering from economic problems and recovered far more quickly than Keynesian methodology allowed the US to.<<

In the 30's the USA reduced liquidity and slipped into a depression until they switched the liquidity back on. It took an electoral cycle before the incoming president took the economy on a 180 degree shift back to recovery.

Bernanke studied the cause and consequence of the depression and it is his declared intent to fight deflation which leads to depression.

The coalition have opted for an internal liquidity reduction in the hopes of Global growth stimulating private sector growth. To what extent the gamble pays off only time will tell but they are following a principle that failed abysmally for the USA.

>>One example is BT, they employ far less people, are far more productive per head and have lower fault rates than at any time when they were a public company.<<

You could not have picked a poorer example to illustrate a point.

Technology changes that did not exist in a usable format pre 1990's and were subsequently adopted caused the improvements.

Several different methods of exchanges were run prior to the big change and all were labour intensive and required large numbers of skilled workers to operate and maintain different technologies with a myriad of variations on a theme.

The advent of computer controlled packet switching coupled with inter exchange use of fibre technology turned the old mainly mechanical methodology into the fore-runner of what has now morphed into the internet with VOIP. The fault reductions were brought about, in the main, by methods that had none of the inherent noise of mechanical system.

Well over 100K staff were shed because they were simply not needed as technology replaced them and their skills.

You are comparing a company that is now computerised in every way with an era when the best PC available was a 286 running Dos.