Saturday, Jul 18, 2009

Fiscal ruin of the Western world beckons

Telegraph: Fiscal ruin of the Western world beckons

For a glimpse of what awaits Britain, Europe, and America as budget deficits spiral to war-time levels, look at what is happening to the Irish welfare state.

Posted by devo @ 11:30 PM (996 views) Add Comment

9 Comments

1. devo said...

We are about to find out which jobs are genuinely important.

Sunday, July 19, 2009 12:06AM Report Comment
 

2. devo said...

For a start...

Farmer
Carpenter
Mechanic
Doctor
Grocer
Schoolmaster

Yes, I've been thinking about Little House on the Prairie.

Sunday, July 19, 2009 12:17AM Report Comment
 

3. Ndg said...

How about:

Soldier
Policeman
Civil Enforcement Officer (formerly the much maligned Traffic Warden - and soon to have statutory right of entry to your home)
Judge
CCTV Operator
Solicitor
Vicar
Grave Digger

For as long as the choice of Western governments is to waste time, money and energy in a futile attempt to recreate the 'old' system; successful public mentoring and, if needs be, forced influence will become the norm. A road to hell.

Authority is implementing their own version of 'truth'. Spinning reality through 180 degrees.

The World is, in essence, upside down. If the government has their way we will soon forget which way is 'up', forget what we used to find 'reasonable'. Fiscal ruin as a result of corruption is obvious, but how about the moral confusion? Anyone remember integrity?

Perhaps it would be wiser to create and implement a 'new improved' system. A system that the majority of the population finds reasonable. A system where truth, from the perspective of moral integrity rather than government spin and newspaper headlines, is the only authority. Sounds simple enough to me.

Sunday, July 19, 2009 01:29AM Report Comment
 

4. quiet guy said...

Another perspective on this story:

http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/2009/07/benefits-trap-first-hand-experience.html

What happens when we just cannot keep paying those benefits?

Sunday, July 19, 2009 01:40AM Report Comment
 

5. Who-ate-all-my-pies said...

300,000 public sector workers in Rep of Ireland
600,000 public sector workers in Scotland

Population Rep of Ireland 4.4 million
Population Scotland 5 mIllion

And this report talks about how bad things are in Rep of Ireland!!!!

Sunday, July 19, 2009 07:21AM Report Comment
 

6. mrflibble said...

Damning, but, but, but, the media would have us all believe we on the cusp of another property boom *lol*

Sunday, July 19, 2009 08:42AM Report Comment
 

7. stillthinking said...

I read your link quietguy

The time to sort out the unemployed was up to 2007, not now. There are not enough jobs to go around.... Economies are either expanding or shrinking, when they are -expanding- you can continue to expand them by making welfare less attractive as an option.

At the moment, we can't. Making welfare less attractive now will not put people into work, the economy is shrinking. Really, this isn't the time to try and shrink welfare. Apart from anything else, what about the huge numbers of recently unemployed who have been paying in all their lives? Do they get shafted along with the rest?

What makes the benefit system absurb is as Mark Wadsworth points out in a comment, that the huge cost, the component that creates the benefit trap, is the cost of housing. Leading back to why aren't we building more social housing, reason being because the electorate don't want to, however the electorate, also being a taxpayer, are hoist on their own petard through LHA.

Sunday, July 19, 2009 12:04PM Report Comment
 

8. enuii said...

Thee commet in the article on Ireland is interesting; 'The Garda (police), already smarting from a 7pc pay cut, may have to buy their own uniforms. Hospital visits could cost £107 a day'.

Imagine how that would go down over here!

Sunday, July 19, 2009 02:14PM Report Comment
 

9. growler said...

We have loads of fat in the UK.

The problem for Broon is that once it's cut, we'll all see that we've just been through huge and extravagant waste. So much of the new spend has been poorly applied. Cutting it will reveal the failure that Broons miracle always was.

Sunday, July 19, 2009 02:50PM Report Comment
 

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