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Ignitionnet · 14-04-2015, 10:10

Both of the major parties appear to, at the last minute, have decided to desperately try and cover up their perceived deficiencies.

The Conservatives suddenly magic £8 billion out of the air for the NHS, having spent however many years telling us how vital it is to show fiscal responsibility. George Osborne also told a blatant lie when he said that the worst of the austerity has already been done, it hasn't, but that's another story. He looked a tool when he couldn't explain where the cash was going to come from, about the only place that comes to mind is that he's hoping for growth in tax receipts to cover it. Hmm that sounds a familiar story. One I'm pretty sure he, in between promising to match and exceed Labour's spending, lambasted.

The economic illiteracy of the British people is being ruthlessly exploited. People are told that it's vital the country begins to pay down the debt. It's not - it's vital that we reduce our debt to GDP ratio which certainly isn't the same thing. Astonishing level of duplicity from the coalition in conveniently changing how they've been rating the deficit from absolute terms to the debt to GDP ratio as it scores a better number on the soundbites, especially duplicious as it they only began doing it recently.

Conservatives try to paint it as a bad thing that Labour are willing to borrow for capital investment. This isn't a bad thing - borrowing for productive investment is done all the time. Borrowing Osborne and company's ridiculous model of treating state finances like household ones borrowing in order to make a productive, and profitable investment is exactly the right reason for a household to borrow.

Indeed we have a big investment gap to fill as big businesses seem to be more interested in borrowing to buy back their own stock and hence boost their earnings per share and in turn bonuses for senior staff than they do investing in productive activities. 97% of money is created by private banks, only 3% of free floating funds by the BoE, and of that 97% only about 10% ends up going to business and as mentioned a lot of them are buying their own shares with it. The rest is used to speculate on the financial markets and buy property.

Assuming Labour stick to it, and there's no way they can under their current plans as there's a big black hole there, balancing current spending, running a surplus as much as possible, and borrowing for capital is spot on. As a concept that's a decent way to run an economy, especially one as starved of investment as ours.

That's the main rub with Labour though, a manifesto light on details with a whole bunch of things missing. The numbers simply don't add up.

On a subject close to my heart - housing. The Tories continue spending taxpayers' money to keep house prices high. The most recent scam being extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants universally and increasing the discount for those who already had the right. So if you're young this doesn't help you in any way, you've just seen the social housing stock drop. If you can't afford it you've just seen the social housing stock drop as it'll be funded by forcing local authorities to sell larger properties as they become available - don't grow your family. If you can afford it then congratulations, an estimated 100-200,000 households will be purchasing properties at a taxpayer subsidised discount, given the locations of these an early estimate reckons at least 1/3rd of which will end up in private landlord hands in the not too distant future.

Naturally the Conservatives are going to carry on protecting the greenbelt. Yes, yes, it was fine for it to be less than half the size it is now 20-30 years ago but we just can't afford to lose a single hectare of it now. Never mind that urban greenery has far more value both in terms of quality of life and utility.

Labour's promises on housing are nebulous, lacking in detail, and nowhere near ambitious enough.

What I've heard from the Tories so far is a whole bunch of bribes to their core vote alongside the occasional swipe at a smaller subset of the wealthiest.

What I've heard from Labour is confusing, nebulous, contradictory.

I would say that both completely abandoned any hope of getting a majority, both have been appealing to their core voters, however as a desperate and belated rear guard action both have tried to paper cracks and win some of those in the middle by impersonating the other.

These parties are both unbelievably dire.

Watching the current machinations I suspect Labour will end up in a coalition with the Lib Dems. Whether this gives them enough to form a majority or not I doubt, and they may up in a confidence and supply arrangement with the SNP.

Given how unbelievably crap both Conservatives and Labour are the days of majority politics seem to be over for the foreseeable.

14-04-2015, 10:10	#465
Ignitionnet Inactive Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire Age: 47 Posts: 13,995	Re: 2015 UK General Election Thread Both of the major parties appear to, at the last minute, have decided to desperately try and cover up their perceived deficiencies. The Conservatives suddenly magic £8 billion out of the air for the NHS, having spent however many years telling us how vital it is to show fiscal responsibility. George Osborne also told a blatant lie when he said that the worst of the austerity has already been done, it hasn't, but that's another story. He looked a tool when he couldn't explain where the cash was going to come from, about the only place that comes to mind is that he's hoping for growth in tax receipts to cover it. Hmm that sounds a familiar story. One I'm pretty sure he, in between promising to match and exceed Labour's spending, lambasted. The economic illiteracy of the British people is being ruthlessly exploited. People are told that it's vital the country begins to pay down the debt. It's not - it's vital that we reduce our debt to GDP ratio which certainly isn't the same thing. Astonishing level of duplicity from the coalition in conveniently changing how they've been rating the deficit from absolute terms to the debt to GDP ratio as it scores a better number on the soundbites, especially duplicious as it they only began doing it recently. Conservatives try to paint it as a bad thing that Labour are willing to borrow for capital investment. This isn't a bad thing - borrowing for productive investment is done all the time. Borrowing Osborne and company's ridiculous model of treating state finances like household ones borrowing in order to make a productive, and profitable investment is exactly the right reason for a household to borrow. Indeed we have a big investment gap to fill as big businesses seem to be more interested in borrowing to buy back their own stock and hence boost their earnings per share and in turn bonuses for senior staff than they do investing in productive activities. 97% of money is created by private banks, only 3% of free floating funds by the BoE, and of that 97% only about 10% ends up going to business and as mentioned a lot of them are buying their own shares with it. The rest is used to speculate on the financial markets and buy property. Assuming Labour stick to it, and there's no way they can under their current plans as there's a big black hole there, balancing current spending, running a surplus as much as possible, and borrowing for capital is spot on. As a concept that's a decent way to run an economy, especially one as starved of investment as ours. That's the main rub with Labour though, a manifesto light on details with a whole bunch of things missing. The numbers simply don't add up. On a subject close to my heart - housing. The Tories continue spending taxpayers' money to keep house prices high. The most recent scam being extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants universally and increasing the discount for those who already had the right. So if you're young this doesn't help you in any way, you've just seen the social housing stock drop. If you can't afford it you've just seen the social housing stock drop as it'll be funded by forcing local authorities to sell larger properties as they become available - don't grow your family. If you can afford it then congratulations, an estimated 100-200,000 households will be purchasing properties at a taxpayer subsidised discount, given the locations of these an early estimate reckons at least 1/3rd of which will end up in private landlord hands in the not too distant future. Naturally the Conservatives are going to carry on protecting the greenbelt. Yes, yes, it was fine for it to be less than half the size it is now 20-30 years ago but we just can't afford to lose a single hectare of it now. Never mind that urban greenery has far more value both in terms of quality of life and utility. Labour's promises on housing are nebulous, lacking in detail, and nowhere near ambitious enough. What I've heard from the Tories so far is a whole bunch of bribes to their core vote alongside the occasional swipe at a smaller subset of the wealthiest. What I've heard from Labour is confusing, nebulous, contradictory. I would say that both completely abandoned any hope of getting a majority, both have been appealing to their core voters, however as a desperate and belated rear guard action both have tried to paper cracks and win some of those in the middle by impersonating the other. These parties are both unbelievably dire. Watching the current machinations I suspect Labour will end up in a coalition with the Lib Dems. Whether this gives them enough to form a majority or not I doubt, and they may up in a confidence and supply arrangement with the SNP. Given how unbelievably crap both Conservatives and Labour are the days of majority politics seem to be over for the foreseeable.