That’s certainly true what you say about the consequences of economic decline, Bob, but it might be helpful to add reasons why industries and jobs have been lost and how they could have been kept within the country? The days of the mining industry are counted and the respective jobs not needed any longer, not just in the UK. My grandpa was a locksmith partly working as a blacksmith and he knew that the times for blacksmiths were over.
To me, the more interesting and crucial question is : why is our system not capable of creating alternative jobs? As for the manufacturing industry, jobs and market share are being lost since those in charge, to a considerable degree being encouraged by customers with the same mindset, prefer clinging to old technologies and products while ignoring the long-term effects of their policy.
It’s hard to make a profit out out manufacturing, we can’t compete with counties that pay 1/2 or 1/4 the wage. The City of London is where the money is.
I think the unions should take some responsibility Dachs, they stirred up the workers and threatened the ruling classes with strikes, and ended up pricing themselves out of a job.
That’s where tariffs come in d00d, Trump is doing the right thing. We pay far less for things than what they are worth. We live in a throwaway world because we pay peanuts for stuff.
We’re not helping ourselves by running up credit, and we are not helping the environment with all the waste.
I realized why Mom told me to go wash my hands and face again!
I had received a Cell call the other day and the talker said he wasn’t
An Ai but pronounced most of the words wrong and not in Context of
what it was trying to get across. Sure, it was most likely an Ai, I said
not one word, Cancelled it.
5 billion less humans on earth can fix a lot over the next 50 years.
With all the flooding and territorial wars a coming they most likely
will perish though that way! If we do not live 150’ above seal level now
thays in deep skat!
The UK today is a services led economy. Like many western countries manufacturing has reduced greatly - but it is still a significant UK industrial sector. Some think this bad but looking UK historic GDP the numbers show it is not that bad.
!n 1960 the (adjusted for inflation) UK GDP was £400 billion (only £25bn in then money). By 1970 this had only grown to (again, adjusted) £540bn. Today UK GDP is £2,900 billion.
That says its doing much better now than before - and these are adjusted for inflation numbers so it is right to compare one decade to another.
The big shift within these total domestic produce numbers is that much has shifted south - away from manufacturing heartlands in the north and midlands. Now it is London and Thames valley where finance and tech are based.
This is why in the USA I see the tariffs as ONLY hurting USA Consumers because jobs are not coming back and things like coffee we do not produce here outside of a tiny area in Hawaii that can not even supply their local hotels yet tariffs on coffee and other things we do not produce .
Errm…
That said Lincs, how come the national debt in 1960 was a fraction of the national debt today…Is that because we used to export more goods, and now we borrow to make the figures look good and only import stuff mainly from China and the far East?
But your own data shows that the 1960 debt was 102% of GDP and the 2024 debt was 96%. That is - actually a bit better today. Is that because we have a successful services sector and don’t waste time & money trying to make what we can more cheaply import?
Bob, the thing is that you mustn’t look at the nominal debt only. When reports come out that there is a record level of debt, many people think: “Oh, the debt is incredibly high and that might even be dangerous." But the figure itself is hardly meaningful. For long-term comparisons, government debt is always set in relation to economic performance. This is the only way to make a valid statement about a country’s financial development. In your example the debt-to- GDP ratio should be compared and that doesn’t look bad: In fact, it fell from 102% in 1960 to 96% last year.
