Britain has world’s top economy

a reply to: Christosterone

It's only a surprise if you swallowed the economic woe propaganda.

All this really means is we're absolute suckers, if we give the time of day to 'predictions' from experts and pollsters.

Should have learned this by now surely?

a reply to: Bluesma

From what I've been led to understand, the devaluation of the pound has made imports more expensive for the UK

That is correct , it has also made our exports cheaper which is where the upturn has come from , we export a lot of goods.

originally posted by: Dem0nc1eaner

2) We can all cherry pick graphs. Anyone with the time can google "child poverty rates global" and see that on most the UK is at about 10% (even on other Unicef graphs) and is conistently near the bottom.

Yes, there's a reason for that. They went and changed the goalposts of what it means to be in poverty. You now gave to be even poorer to be classed as in poverty. I'm sure all the people who are no longer in poverty for the simple reason that the government has decided that they are no longer in poverty will.be able to use that decision to feed and clothe their families and keep a roof over their heads, oh, hang on...

a reply to: djz3ro

To be honest though mate, our 'poor' in the UK, is nothing like the poor in the 3rd world is it?

We aren't starving to death, our children aren't dying in their thousands from zero sanitation and hygiene. We have clean water to drink and we have 21st century healthcare, free at the point of need.

We have access to benefits of various descriptions, and if the worst comes to the worst, food banks and so on for the leaner times.

Britain's poor are fabulously wealthy from the point of view of a family scrabbling in the mud to find something to eat or drink in the third world.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: Bluesma

From what I've been led to understand, the devaluation of the pound has made imports more expensive for the UK

That is correct , it has also made our exports cheaper which is where the upturn has come from , we export a lot of goods.

That's only good until production is hindered by the cost of the raw materials needed though.

Raw materials and semi-manufactured goods have been the second most important category of British imports. As Geoffrey Crowther, editor of the London Economist, has said:

Even if the Englishman could feed himself, he would still have to import most of his industrial raw materials. He has all the coal he wants and the greater part of the iron ore and a small part of the wool. Virtually everything else he needs—all the petroleum, all the copper, and virtually all the tin and aluminum, all the rubber and cotton, most of the fertilizers—has to be brought from overseas and paid for. It is the payment that is the trouble.5

Dependence of British industry on imported raw materials makes it all the harder for Britain to balance her international payments by increasing exports. Generally speaking, exports cannot be increased without increasing imports.

library.cqpress.com...

They currently have a negative trade balance of $191Billion.
atlas.media.mit.edu...

originally posted by: MysterX
a reply to: djz3ro

To be honest though mate, our 'poor' in the UK, is nothing like the poor in the 3rd world is it?

We aren't starving to death, our children aren't dying in their thousands from zero sanitation and hygiene. We have clean water to drink and we have 21st century healthcare, free at the point of need.

We have access to benefits of various descriptions, and if the worst comes to the worst, food banks and so on for the leaner times.

Britain's poor are fabulously wealthy from the point of view of a family scrabbling in the mud to find something to eat or drink in the third world.

Totally agree! most of Britain's poor actually have more problems with their sense of entitlement than they do with money. They seem to think they can spend what they have (or don't have) without consequence or thought. They then complain they don't have the money for food after spending £50 a month on satellite TV and flashing trainers.

To make it worse society seems to endorse this by decrying the amount of people using food banks and blaming everyone but the people themselves......Half of them only use them because there accessible and it allows them to continue making bad choices about how they manage their finances.

The British did always have one outstanding advantage, we are very resourceful and when backed into a corner we have always being able to get by through sheer ingenuity and pluck. I fear that trait has missed a few generations and the poor hard done by snowflakes who turn up at A&E with toothache have ruined any slim chance we had of making a success of brexit.

Ironically most of this crowd were the ones who voted out, and will be hardest hit by any economic fallout, but true to form i bet they will manage to abdicate that responsibility to another group also......god forbid anyone actually take responsibility for their own actions in this day and age!

a reply to: Bluesma

Economists have shown themselves to be less reliable than polsters in recent years so I'd take what those doom and gloom merchants have to say with a large pinch of salt.
If we have a trade deficit while within the EU who's to say that can't be turned around outside of the restrictive union.

It's a cake we can't taste until we've taken the first slice , roll on March when we make the first move by triggering Article 50.

Hard Brexit with cream for me.

Frexit next ?

a reply to: Dem0nc1eaner

I do not have a home that I rent. I cannot afford one. My mother is the tenant. The business I have is being run on a shoestring, and is not worth a damn financially. I have no security or stability in my life whatsoever. I am living in a two and a half bedroom apartment with two middle aged women, and another family friend besides. My hard work has paid for precisely no progress in the last ten years, no freedom, no privacy, no peace, no security for my future... I may as well have not existed for those years, for all that my works have provided for any positive progress.

You may have nothing in the bank, but that is because you paid for your living. I do not have a living because I cannot afford one. I have an existence, and there is a significant difference.

a reply to: Christosterone

My left bum cheek Britain has the world’s top economy!

Britain has a lot of bankers and financial institutions, both domestic and international, that make a lot of monies while the rest of the poor working class and unemployable suffer at there expense.

originally posted by: MysterX
a reply to: djz3ro

To be honest though mate, our 'poor' in the UK, is nothing like the poor in the 3rd world is it?

We aren't starving to death, our children aren't dying in their thousands from zero sanitation and hygiene. We have clean water to drink and we have 21st century healthcare, free at the point of need.

We have access to benefits of various descriptions, and if the worst comes to the worst, food banks and so on for the leaner times.

Britain's poor are fabulously wealthy from the point of view of a family scrabbling in the mud to find something to eat or drink in the third world.

This was my point, much more elequantly made

originally posted by: MysterX
a reply to: djz3ro

To be honest though mate, our 'poor' in the UK, is nothing like the poor in the 3rd world is it?

We aren't starving to death, our children aren't dying in their thousands from zero sanitation and hygiene. We have clean water to drink and we have 21st century healthcare, free at the point of need.

We have access to benefits of various descriptions, and if the worst comes to the worst, food banks and so on for the leaner times.

Britain's poor are fabulously wealthy from the point of view of a family scrabbling in the mud to find something to eat or drink in the third world.

Well yeah, that is very true, poor in the UK is very different than some other parts of the world

Makes me proud of of chaps across the Pond.

originally posted by: TheBulk

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum

originally posted by: Dem0nc1eaner

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum
a reply to: Christosterone

So again, congratulations to Britain for cutting yourself free of a European albatross and once again setting your own course in this world because as history proves Britain is just fine governing herself and abiding solely by her own economic policies which would benefit Britain...then Europe and then the World…

Actually Britain is a corrupt cesspool run by incompetent fools who only serve the rich, and the poverty levels are getting worse

No, it's actually rather nice

And if you ignore the global crimes of your financial system and banks combined with illegal wars and arms dealing, I guess to some it might be

Pure propaganda. What's the definition of "poverty" here?

Exactly. Here in the US we call people with a roof over their head, food on the table, a car, a flat screen tv and playstations "in poverty". We have legit poor folks and people living on the street, but for whatever reason our politicians don't do much to help them, and focus on people who just make poor financial choices but are actually doing ok by most realistic standards.

a reply to: edsinger

Unfortunately the world is rather more complicated these days, and as is clearly illustrated by the table in the picture, you lot had a plan.

As of yet we don't have any workable exit strategy or plan, hence the ambivalence that surrounds the exit decision.

Whether its the correct decision to exit or otherwise, it will be a duff move backwards if implemented half hardheartedly or incorrectly.

Just a thought.

a reply to: Christosterone

We are not out of the EU yet and won't be for a number of years. The government has to invoke article 50 to signal to the EU that we want to leave as a member. Your OP infers that the growth the UK has experienced is down to the fact we haven't had to subsidise anything is wrong. Here in the UK we are still part if the EU until article 50 is put into play then we have 2 years to negotiate the exit terms.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Christosterone

Unfortunately, these figures mean nothing, because they refer to the sort of trade and business that only advantages the few, whereas the important thing is how well the street level economy, that everyone is involved with is doing, and that is not doing very well at all.

Now that is getting down to brass tacks, where it actually matters