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Unpleasant Realities 1: Tthe Deficit & The Debt
...the deficit and it has rarely been so large
and the debt level is back to the 193-1955 levels as % GDP ie we are broke really
well Messrs Attlee and Roosevelt did pretty well against such an appallingly difficult global economy .... maybe they knew something the coalition wants to ignore ...
and the bankers demands to keep them in business
"Society is indeed a contract. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in all perfection. As the ends of such a partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.”
Thanks Calum. This gives me the opportunity to post a few random things I discovered yesterday.
Deficit
The highest deficit under Major's government - 1990-1997 - was well in excess of the highest deficit under Labour between 1997 and mid-2008. Seeing that by the end of 1997, the Tories had been in power for 18 years, their higher deficit could only have been their fault. While I'm no fan at all of Blair and Brown, what the stats do suggest is that so-called out of control Labour policies were probably not what created this mess as generally stated. Rather it all goes back again to the global economy and its methods.
Costs
Iraq war - £9 billion, Libya - £2 billion, Afghanistan - £18 billion, The Olympics - £11 billion
A big question about priorities. It's also insignificant compared with tax evasion - the combined totals equal every 1-2 years.
And then - RBS Bailout - £45 billion, Northern Rock bailout - £100 billion, Rescue for Irish Economy - £7 billion
Tax Evasion
98 of the Top 100 FTSE companies use tax havens. Banking makes the heaviest use. 25% of the 34,216 companies set up by FTSE 100 multinationals are in tax havens - http://www.actionaid.org.uk/doc_lib/...tax_havens.pdf. Many are British or in ex British countries. Politicians could take similar actions to those for the Malvinas. Much of it would be all over in a day. Here are some more realistic suggestions - http://www.tackletaxhavens.com/. Europe is also worth noting. The Netherlands and Luxembourg are two of the worst offenders. Funny that the EU has done little about them. Finally, for those who wonder how tax havens work, here is information with reference to the next Republican candidate for the Presidency - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFMwFbsIBas
Public Sector Savings
Savings to date from the destruction of the public sector amount to £10 billion. That's approximately the cost of the Iraq war or half of the Afghanistan campaign or the big Olympics party or 6-12 months of private sector tax evasion.
Last edited by Lateralthinking1; 22-03-12 at 18:50.
.....I agree. It also looks from the third chart as if the deficit was worse than it is now for 55% of the 20th Century - 1915-1970 - and worse for 62% of the welfare state years - ie post 1911.Originally Posted by aka Calum Da Jazbo
For 11% of those years - 1911-2000 - it was twice as bad as now and for 34% of them it was 3-4 times as bad as now.
As these figures and those in my previous post suggest, what is being done imho is based almost wholly on political ideology.
(If anyone disagrees with this analysis, please shout)
Full Member
ISA = authorised / legal tax evasion?
Full Member
It's more properly tax avoidance, because it is legal.
Know your rights - all three of 'em
Full Member
If ALL allowances, expenses, costs = evasion (rather than avoidance) should they ALL be eliminated ?
this would save millions, no need to keep receipts etc though it would make many accountants redundant !
Full Member
Precisely Mr GG. The business of avoidance or evasion is not understood by the politics of envy/tall poppies brigade.
By the way, how are those triangles going?
Know your rights - all three of 'em
Full Member
Knowing the difference is vitally important
a bit like the confusion over expenses and per diems (to put it into music speak !)
there is a point where having everything totally accounted for and accurate costs more and is a waste of time
in the past I have been in a situation where it would have been financially more "prudent" to "loose" the bag of reciepts
rather than get them processed by the accountants !
The same goes for insurance etc I know of a couple of venues where they don't insure things like sound equipment and pianos etc as the premium would be so high that it's cheaper to simply replace things as and when rather than pay for insurance !
BUT
insuring yourself to drive would be a good idea IMV
The triangle album Marvellous !
Christine Balfa is the Brendel of the triangle
Full Member
Mr GG, be careful, you are being dangerously realistic! You may have even spent some time in the real world!Knowing the difference is vitally important
a bit like the confusion over expenses and per diems (to put it into music speak !)
there is a point where having everything totally accounted for and accurate costs more and is a waste of time
in the past I have been in a situation where it would have been financially more "prudent" to "loose" the bag of reciepts
rather than get them processed by the accountants !
The same goes for insurance etc I know of a couple of venues where they don't insure things like sound equipment and pianos etc as the premium would be so high that it's cheaper to simply replace things as and when rather than pay for insurance !
BUT
insuring yourself to drive would be a good idea IMV
The triangle album Marvellous !
Christine Balfa is the Brendel of the triangle
I agree with your views on car insurance, what with it being a strict liability offence!
Yes, I get it now - Balfa is that marvellous musician that plays on my treasured recording of Dvorak's 9th. How does she rise above the orchestra without amplification? Genius.
Know your rights - all three of 'em
Full Member
Purple at 2:30 am ???
having mixed a few orchestral recordings I have found the problem is more getting LESS triangle (some goes for glock ) as unless you stick the player in a booth (preferably in another town !) it's all over everything
Eminent musicologists have proved that Dvorak was more influenced by swap cajun music and hog roasts than we originally thought (see A Bourdain : A study of the effects of pork in tube form on the music and culture of the Southern States )
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