I do and it's not to cut at such drastic levels.
The cuts in the public sector will have a knock on effect in to the private sector, and the already weak economy won't cope with all this well. We need to encourage growth in the economy.
Growth created by borrowing money isn't really growth at all apart from in a few very specific circumstances...
There were plenty of private sector people marching yesterday that I encountered, cuts aren't the answer. The march yesterday was an anti cut march on the face of things, but under neath it was a have against the have nots.
Such division is irrelevant in the UK, the only thing stopping the have nots becoming haves is themselves.
The debt the country is being made out to be a lot worse then it is. From 1918 to 1961 the UK national debt was over 100% of GDP. During that period the government introduced the welfare state, the NHS, state pensions, comprehensive education, built millions of council houses, and nationalised a range of industries. The public sector grew and there was economic growth.
It isn't the size of our debt that is the problem, it is the rate of expansion of our debt. In the last 10 years, it has doubled in size (with half that doubling happening prior to the recession). It is going to double again by 2015 at the rate it is going. That is an insane rate of expansion, and Labour made us dependent on the money markets, so we need to listen when they warn us...
You also cite debt in terms of GDP, rather than in absolute terms, it's far scarier in absolute terms...
The Japanese are in incredible debt, as is American and we are not.
The japanese haven't been expanding at our rate, the americans have, but they hold the world's primary reserve currency, and we do not, which gives them substantially more protection than we have.
Job cuts are just counterproductive. Mass job cuts would weaken the economic situation by reducing demand in the economy and putting less money in to it this in turn would providing less tax revenue.
Recycling money doesn't actually help this though. We don't need welfare jobs, we need economically productive jobs, and they aren't often provided by the state.
Irland is a good example of this. They cut their public funding after the collapse of the banking sector. Mass unemployment, the economy shrunk as a result. Ireland as a direct result of this is in a far worse economic state then it was before the cuts.
Ireland's mistake was in guaranteeing all bank lending, personal and commercial, with the state. That is the reason they are now having to cut.
For everyone shooting down the guy that suggested the banks should repay the money, do the math. We (as in the government) is still owed almost 1 trillion, it's something like the best part of 900 billion by the banks.
No, they don't. The total potential bill (or value) of the bank bailout was around £850bn according to the ONS, however around £700bn was in the form of guarantees, which have not been activated and which are already in profit because they charged fees. As they have not been activated, no money has been paid out. The actual amount of money owed by the banks is around £150bn, much of which is already breaking even in the form of shares.
Please do some research.
You just don't need to cut public spending, imho, creating jobs and reducing the strain on the flawed benefit system, trying to put money in to the economy.
Creating unnecessary jobs only shifts the burden from one benefit system to another. It is not progress in any way.
Sorry if that is a bit all over the place, I feel horrific still.
You want to make cuts? Cut trident and don't go to war.
The war you have a point on, Trident and it's replacement costs around £2-3bn a year over 20 years, cancelling it won't actually make a dent.
