Spring Statement

Truro12

Truro12

Roofer
I'm not an economist but have read a cross section of views about the Spring Statement. The consensus seems to be that it's muddled, incoherent and filled with contradiction and bizarre assumptions regarding future interest rates, sources of borrowing and investment. The majority predict a financial crash if she doesn't alter course, that coming through the only option open to the Head of Customer Services in the form of tax rises.

One commentator said that if you were trying to orchestrate a mass wealth transfer to the global rich this is what you would do, as high interest rates, high house prices, high taxes and no growth would only attract foreign money.

Almost every major economic theory says that the economy (supply and demand) is best served by self-regulation and market forces and the worst thing is government meddling. Socialists believe heavily in state control so maybe this is why every Labour government has broken the economy? 🤷‍♂️
 
Truro12 said:
Almost every major economic theory says that the economy (supply and demand) is best served by self-regulation and market forces and the worst thing is government meddling.
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Are you sure you were reading about the UK & not the USA in relation to this point at this particular time? (Not that I have a high opinion of Reeves' efforts so far, imo she/they tied their own hands at the outset and have continued to stumble on like someone whose hands are, well, tied, the one piece of old Labour orthodoxy that she seems to have returned to is hoping growth can be stimulated through government capital spending something that has come & gone in & out of fashion a number of times.)
 
DagenhamFox said:
Since when did a Spring Statement become a thing?
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It's basically because we're obsessed with statistics. Everything is centralized and therefore generalisations are applied to everyone rather than addressing their specific needs. We have various puffed up self important bodies producing endless reams of predictions which are largely not worth the toilet paper they're written on mainly because they only gather the information from people who give the "correct" answers and this is used by the media and inept civil servants and politicians who rely on the inept civil service to make decisions which are wrong so therefore they need to keep changing their minds.
 
So it is a new thing, I’m glad as I thought I’d been living under a rock for the last few decades.

I thought it was a statement to say things are going to get even tougher over the course of this year.
 
DagenhamFox said:
So it is a new thing, I’m glad as I thought I’d been living under a rock for the last few decades.

I thought it was a statement to say things are going to get even tougher over the course of this year.
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I imagine as we decline as a country this year, we will probably see a Summer, Autumn and Winter statement too. The last one will probably be to tell us how good Net Zero is going as we shiver in the cold as no one can afford their heating bill!! :LOL:
 
It's similar to a very important idiot standing at a lectern with a snappy sticker on it to tell us what we already know.

Boris started this in the lock down period
 
It's relevance is it illustrates the way "the man" is finding ever more diverse ways of keeping the plebs in their place but making them feel relevant, just like the Spring Statement.
 
DagenhamFox said:
Since when did a Spring Statement become a thing?
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I am pretty sure it's related to when the budget is. Budgets generally used to be in Spring, and then there would be an Autumn statement which I thin was supposed to be a sort of mid year progress check without any major new measures. At some point budgets seem to have switched to autumn so the mid-year statement is in Spring. In that sense it's not a new thing.

The kerfuffle this year (well one of them) is about whether the new/changed measures the Chancellor announced add up to being more than just a statement and are more of a second (emergency, mini, pick your favoured term) budget.
 
If government needs to make cuts start with the subsidised bars etc at Westminster and crack down on some of the ridiculous expenses claims like the Labour MP claiming for her pet dog
 
Sammelslongshot said:
If government needs to make cuts start with the subsidised bars etc at Westminster and crack down on some of the ridiculous expenses claims like the Labour MP claiming for her pet dog
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Just for context, the subsidised restaurant also caters for the lower-paid junior parliamentary staff that often have to work unsocial hours for the MPs & govt depts, & not just the MPs.

Regarding what’s claimed for, it seems we’ve learnt nothing from the days of duck houses & heating for horse stables being claimed for.
 
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Mistryman said:
Just for context, the subsidised restaurant also caters for the lower-paid junior parliamentary staff that often have to work unsocial hours for the MPs & govt depts, & not just the MPs.

Regarding what’s claimed for, it seems we’ve learnt nothing from the days of duck houses & hearing for horse stables being claimed for.
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Thanks for reply. Just let the lower paid staff you describe get the subsidy but cancel it for the MPs etc
 
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