http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12800725

I think the reporters have got it all upside down. Surely the headline should be "we borrowed £8bn less than we expected"
Since when has not getting further into debt been a windfall

Seems like because we haven't borrowed the full £148bn, some reckon we should just blow the extra. Righty ho, now guess why we are up the creek without a paddle................

edit. To put it in perpective they have borrowed about £2200 for every person in the country (approx) and save an additional £130. So there is a long long way to go. Where can we cut govt spending to get it all down to zero??

[Edited on 21/3/11 by cliftyhanger]

It never will be zero we always borrow that's the way the system works

Some say the government is cutting too fast. As such, being £8bn ahead of target gives them room to slow down a bit, making the cuts less painfull. Others say the sooner you get the deficit down, the less the overal impact of the cuts. Less for longer or more for a shorter time. Who can tell which is best. If economists know what they're talking about, how come we're in this mess?

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Originally posted by DRC INDY 7
It never will be zero we always borrow that's the way the system works

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It doesn't have to be. You can run at a zero structural deficit. People like governments who spend and dislike those who tax, so governments spend more than they tax. We only have ourselves to blame. A certain Mr Keyens, a liberal economist from 100 years ago, said economies should run at a surplus in the boom years so that in recessions you could keep providing public services. If they'd done that over the past 15 years, we wouldn't have this problem now. The trouble started when Gordon Brown ended "prudence" and started to buy favour with the public. If you spend more than you earn, like he did, and then your income drops by 25% you're (or more accurately we're) screwed.

Do you think the cuts are bad? Do the tax rises hurt? Only after another 3 years will spending match income. Then we'll have the £1,100,000,000,000 debt to pay back, costing £120,000,000 per day in interest. It is not going to get better any time soon. We've had the party and now we're left to clean up the mess.

[Edited on 21-3-2011 by smart51]

+1 the parties over. Most of us have pretty much what we want and our national credit cards getting near the limit, and when it does you have to get to the high interest lending and then it really hurts.
so we have:-

a very poor economic position.
an aging population
and very little industry

we have to make cuts as a nation and change the trade deficit or we could all pay a lump sum I think it is only about 13.5K each. Come on guys hands in pockets

look on the bright side our deficit is .89Trillion for 61M people

the US is

14Trillion for 300M people by the looks of it.


looks like a few years of being less well off for most

Pete

I don't know much about economic theory. More a hands on chappie and a bit of chemistry.
But I do know it is best to spend no more than your income, otherwise you get into debt. Some debts are OK (mortgage for instance) but best avoided on the whole.
thats what my Dad taught me
Maybe he should have given a few politicians lessons too over breakfast I reckon if it applies to individuals it shloud work on a bigger scale.

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Originally posted by DRC INDY 7
It never will be zero we always borrow that's the way the system works

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Originally posted by watsonpj
looks like a few years of being less well off for most

Pete

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quote:

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Originally posted by cliftyhanger
I don't know much about economic theory. More a hands on chappie and a bit of chemistry.
But I do know it is best to spend no more than your income, otherwise you get into debt. Some debts are OK (mortgage for instance) but best avoided on the whole.
thats what my Dad taught me

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quote:

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Originally posted by David JenkinsThe whole approach to finance is screwed in this country, from individuals right up to the government...

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