The Meaning of the Word "Austerity"

[edgray]

I find the Corbett Report compelling, I think Corbett has the balls to say a lot of things other's daren't. This is an interesting video about the meaning of the word Austerity, and what it means for citizens of countries whose govts have amassed huge debts in their name. Well worth the 8 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUmQbf1AyA8

 

[Minor Axis]

Wow, scary, what governments do in the people's names... And the solution is- Iceland saying "screw you"? Are the IMF and World Banks corrupt?

 

[edgray]

The worst part, if you ask me, is what the IMF and European nations have done in countries like Ethiopia. Disgusting.

 

[edgray]

Iceland rock. I want to move there

What's happening across Europe now should be a warning to the US citizens out there - get your govt's spending under control or be at the mercy of "austerity measures".

 

[edgray]

News From Blighty:

Budget 2010: VAT to rise to 20% as Osborne seeks to balance books by 2015

• VAT to rise by 2.5 percentage points
• Public sector pay frozen for two years
• Child benefit frozen for three years
• Income tax personal allowance to rise by £1,000
• State pension relinked to earnings from April

Higher taxes, swingeing spending cuts and deep savings in welfare were announced by George Osborne today in a £40bn austerity package, designed to fast-track the elimination of Britain's record peacetime budget deficit.

In what he dubbed the "unavoidable budget", the chancellor said he would protect the poorest from the impact of a coming new year rise in VAT to 20%, a two-year freeze on public sector pay, a three-year freeze on child benefit, and cuts of more than 25% in spending by some Whitehall departments.

An austerity package from the British govt, on it's own people...

 

[Peter Parka]

I was actually quite impressed withe budget, was quite sensible and no where near as bad as the scare mongerers would have us believe. Good to see it's helping and encoraging new businesses outside London and the South East and finally a government who isn't intent on demonising motorists, drinkers and smokers while hypocritically being happy to haul in their taxes which keep the economy afloat.:clap

They were refreshingly honest before the election that cuts would have to be made to sort out the economy and the've managed to do that without pressing the panic button, people need to realise and accept that tightening the belt is necessary to haul us out of the mess Labour left, it's unrealistic to expect improvement for less money.

 

[Accountable]

Austerity measures should be status quo for our federal gov't.

 

[edgray]

I was actually quite impressed withe budget, was quite sensible and no where near as bad as the scare mongerers would have us believe. Good to see it's helping and encoraging new businesses outside London and the South East and finally a government who isn't intent on demonising motorists, drinkers and smokers while hypocritically being happy to haul in their taxes which keep the economy afloat.:clap

They were refreshingly honest before the election that cuts would have to be made to sort out the economy and the've managed to do that without pressing the panic button, people need to realise and accept that tightening the belt is necessary to haul us out of the mess Labour left, it's unrealistic to expect improvement for less money.

Something had to give, Labour racked up enormous debts which if it had continued would've eventually caused enormous problems.

The budget seems pretty fair, and isn't actually as harsh as I thought it might be.

It still seems unfair for the people to be paying for Labour's mistakes...

Austerity measures should be status quo for our federal gov't.

Very much so. If you guys get your govt spending under control sooner, the austerity needn't be too harsh.

 

[Zorak]

Explain to me how it's good that every department in Whitehall has to find savings of 25%?

That's fucking mass unemployment right there.

 

[edgray]

Explain to me how it's good that every department in Whitehall has to find savings of 25%?

That's fucking mass unemployment right there.

The civil service is seriously bloated in the UK, and costs the country a fortune... the savings of 25% need not be made up by tons of redundancies.

My ex-wife was a civil servant, generally they have it pretty cushy compared to everyone else, and pretty wasteful of resources. It shouldn't take too much to shake them up a bit.

 

[Peter Parka]

Explain to me how it's good that every department in Whitehall has to find savings of 25%?

That's fucking mass unemployment right there.

It's not that big, the departments of Whitehall, its hardly the biggest employer in the land, by far. To be honest, the whole cutting down thing there is just a moral thing about setting an example, same with the expenses row, it dosen't really have much of an impact on the country at all. I think MPs are on very small wages considering how hard they work, look at the tiny amounts they get paid compared to footballers and what they do, for example. Ok, footballers wages dont come out of taxes but you get the idea.

 

[Zorak]

The civil service is seriously bloated in the UK, and costs the country a fortune... the savings of 25% need not be made up by tons of redundancies.

My ex-wife was a civil servant, generally they have it pretty cushy compared to everyone else, and pretty wasteful of resources. It shouldn't take too much to shake them up a bit.

Getting people on to the dole is hardly the answer.

I don't think the Ministry of Defence needs many more cuts either as it is.

 

[Zorak]

Actually, I don't care much about the budget. It won't work either way
Osbourne is living on cuckoo island if he seriously thinks the UK can decrease it's defecit to 30 billion in just 4 years.

They should give me the job, I'd stop waging unwinnable wars in the middle east and save the country some £100 billion... :surrender

 

[Peter Parka]

Getting people on to the dole is hardly the answer.

I don't think the Ministry of Defence needs many more cuts either as it is.

I'd have thought as someone who really approves of Capitalism that you'd approve of getting people out of unneccasary, government jobs paid for by taxes and instead encoraging them into the capitalist business world where you earn as much or less as you personally can get people to pay freely for your products or services.

 

[Zorak]

I'd have thought as someone who really approves of Capitalism that you'd approve of getting people out of unneccasary, government jobs paid for by taxes and instead encoraging them into the capitalist business world where you earn as much or less as you personally can get people to pay freely for your products or services.

I don't know if they're unneccessary though. All I have to go on is anecdotal evidence.

And anyway, they're all so fucking useless I think they need all the bodies in there they can.

 

[edgray]

you can all follow the direct effects of the cutbacks on The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/series/cutswatch

 

[Minor Axis]

Very much so. If you guys get your govt spending under control sooner, the austerity needn't be too harsh.

It's hard to believe that Republicans and Democrats ran a balanced budget until Ronald Reagan showed up... the point being, it can be done if you have the will power.

 

[edgray]

It's hard to believe that Republicans and Democrats ran a balanced budget until Ronald Reagan showed up... the point being, it can be done if you have the will power.

Similar situation in the UK I guess, though of course we had huge debts after WWII. Reaganomics was something adopted by Thatcher too, who managed to cut public spending massively, to the point of almost destroying things like the NHS, but building an economy based on debt.

 

[Accountable]

It's hard to believe that Republicans and Democrats ran a balanced budget until Ronald Reagan showed up... the point being, it can be done if you have the will power.

Yes it is hard to believe because it's not true.

 

[Zorak]

Similar situation in the UK I guess, though of course we had huge debts after WWII. Reaganomics was something adopted by Thatcher too, who managed to cut public spending massively, to the point of almost destroying things like the NHS, but building an economy based on debt.

If she had her way completely, I'm sure it would have gone. But fair play to the Iron Lady, she made some tough decisions regarding primary industry that had to be made, and we've benefitted from it.

However, our quality of life is greatly diminished now because of some of her cuts. It costs me £40 to travel 30 miles from UNI to home by train. That's just.... wrong.