What they don't tax away, they sooner or later destroy through inflation, or by nuking asset values via a collapse in market confidence. Which is why the UK stock market is now 15% below the level Brown inherited way back in 1997, whereas the "cause of all our woes" US market is still 15% up (Dow). Tomorrow, as soon as we get that VAT cut, the Tylers are off out to blow their few remaining savings on a collection of 60 inch plasma TVs, his and hers Porche 911 GT2s, and some top-of-the-range cosmetic surgery. There's no way we're hanging on to savings just so they can be taxed/inflated away in 18 months time.
Maybe that's what Gordon is reckoning on...
6 comments:
Thanks Iain for a wonderful piece of silliness.
Readers should of course be aware that under the last Conservative government inflation (based on RPI, the only measure to go back that far) averaged 6.43%, while under Labour it has averaged 2.9%. What did for the Tories was the hangover from the Lawson boom. Lawson resigned just as inflation was about to go into double figures (where it stayed for most of 1990).
Unemployment does tend to cure inflation, which is why Major crashed the economy into recession.
Now inflation is not the risk it was, some even fear deflation. So it makes sense to create jobs rather sack public sector workers.
Stephen Newton - nice bit of astro turf you laid there.
Lets remember what matters is the gap between inflation and base rates ( negative in Brown anti progress Britain right now ).
The world have far higher inflation in the 80/90's - and the period of stability Brown had was inherited rather than created ( mostly thanks to his sticking to Tory Spending rule initially ).
We are now reaping the Labour / Brown bust as they have destroyed our economy on a debt fuelled spasm of unsustainable spending on unreformed third sector client voters.
I wonder how long before Brown and his gang of self interested failures start to describe savings as cash hoarding ?
Everyone I know is talking about buying a safe and hiding their savings so as to get the mortgage paid if/when we are out on our ears. Judging by an Alex cartoon which relied on a familiarity of this phenomenon for its gag ;this is a widespread tactic .
What exactly is the point of having money in the bank ?
I dont know about you but i`ve had no savings left since the start of Browns forced philanthropy project.. (Tax til the pips squeak!)
Newton said "What did for the Tories was the hangover from the Lawson boom."
Interesting idea. Lawson resigned as Chancellor in 1989. So it took another 8 years "to do for the Tories". I know that there is often a lag effect with fiscal measures but even so this seems a little extreme.
Matty T: sorry if it wasn't clear that the Tory failure I was referring to was the 1990s recession, which arrived very shortly after Lawson went. That recession was worse than the 1980s recession, because of the 10 years of economic mismanagement that preceded it.
Man in a Shed: astroturfing refers to the practice of faking a grassroots campaign supported by many. One way of doing that would be to set up a series of anonymous blogs like, say, Man in a Shed, A Clockwork Clegg, The New Politics et al.
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