Friday, Jun 18, 2010
Is sky high house price making Britain less competitive and its people debt slave?
Daily Mail: Britain is the worst place to live in Europe
Britain is the worst place in Europe to live despite offering the biggest salaries, a study revealed today.
High incomes in the UK are cancelled out by long working hours, poor annual leave, rising food and fuel bills and a lack of sunshine.
Researchers weighed up official data for ten European countries, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Poland.
I am baffled if migrants really pick UK as the first resettlement choice.
Posted by simon68 @ 06:42 PM (2473 views) Add Comment
29 Comments
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1. drewster said...
"The study found that Britons enjoy the highest after-tax household income, which, at £35,730-a-year, is more than £10,000 above the European average."
That might explain the attraction to foreigners. Poland ranks #6 on this list, compared with Britain at #10, yet every year tens of thousands of young Poles come to these shores in search of work.
Off-topic, but why is today bash-the-immigrants day on HPC?
2. simon68 said...
Yes, it is true………………if those migrants won’t have long term commitment to UK but just reap money and leave. Then they will go to wherever offer the highest wages.
3. Doomandgloom said...
The figures for Poland are wrong! The average wage in Poland is not 21000 GBP pa but 8500 GBP pa. Big difference. The cost of living is similar to UK thats why Poles are coming to UK. Get your facts right.
4. gone-to-colombia said...
Could they be softening their readership up for a hpc?
5. mdmick said...
There is the movie 'Filofax' / 'Taking Care of Business' where the workaholic defends his long hours to his girlfriend: "But I've had to work so hard to be able now to be working this hard!"
It says it all.
6. Jpdoyle said...
"Yes, it is true………………if those migrants won’t have long term commitment to UK"
What is a long-term commitment to the UK?
Buying a house at inflated prices so that a nice UK couple can cash in their HPI and move to retire in Spain taking their pension pot with them?
A commitment to stay here until they are old, totally dependent on the NHS and collecting their state pension?
7. sovietuk said...
What about crime which has soared over the last 100 years. In 1901 there were approximatley 3 offences per 1000 population. Now there are about 100 per 1000 population. Who created and is responsible for this situation ?
What is needed is a return to traditional values.
8. drewster said...
sovietuk,
The British Crime Survey shows that crime levels haven't changed much since 25 years ago.
Source: 25 years of the British Crime Survey [PDF]
It's all very well asking for a return to "traditional values", but how do you implement it? Corporal punishment (like in Singapore)? Dickensian workhouses? Why were these things scrapped in the first place? What are your practical proposals?
9. Bigbadbob said...
Is this the same Daily Mail that bemoaned public sector workers getting a good work life balance on it's front page yesterday? Of course it was.
10. dbc reed said...
Despite simon68's strapline,there is precious little mention of disproportionately high property prices in the Uk apart from vague references to people having no disposable income after" keeping a roof over their heads". The Hate Mail is not going to realise the error of its ways : it is the principal propagandist of the Homeownerist State.
11. Stu531 said...
Probably, the reason why Britain is the worst place to live is because of the Daily Mail.
12. alan_540 said...
dbc reed... who is responsible for inflated house prices? The Daily Mail? I don't think so. Who was setting policy during this housing boom? Oh yes, it was the one eyed slackjawed scottish lunatic. Must be his fault then dontcha think?
13. hpwatcher said...
The problem is that the UK worker - with their massive mortgage - cannot be competitive in terms of wages. Another unfortunate side effect of HPI.
14. i remember the 90`s said...
More like the best benefits system. recaptcha loitererbusiness
15. simon68 said...
Total UK personal debt – June 2010
Total UK personal debt at the end of April 2010 stood at £1,460bn. The twelve-month growth was 0.8%. Individuals owe more than what the whole country produces in a year.
Total secured lending on dwellings at the end of April 2010 stood at £1,239bn. The twelve-month growth rate fell to 0.9%.
Average household debt in the UK is ~ £57,915 (including mortgages).
16. simon68 said...
The total UK household debt in relation to property mortgage is £1,239 billion. The statement that sky high house price makes British people debts slave is not exaggerated.
The labour government is responsible for formulating economic policy and regulating the financial institution. Labour is an ideal socialist. It has the ability to implement physical policy such as increase CGT on second or third home, monetary policy tightening credit for second or third home financing etc. If the government is not corrupted and responsible for policy inclined towards the benefit of greedy bankers, who is responsible for this mess?
17. the number cruncher said...
alan_540 - you are incredibly narrow in your view of who is responsible for this mess, and insults show the scope of your thinking
The media such as the daily mail limit the scope of what politicians like Brown do, whipping up mass hysteria and playing on our darkest fears and selfishness, all in the aid of satisfying the vested interests that fund and control them. The media we have, our own prejudices and vested interests limit which politicians actual get into power and what they can do if they get there. Therefore for all of these reasons we get politicians that focus on short term goals that play to our base instincts and never tackle the long term problems. Until we have politicians that can act in our long term best interest we will forever have monetary expansive booms and busts.
Who is at fault? You, me. the Daily Mail and the once idealist Brown who succumbed to his on selfish need to hold on to power and deluded himself that he was doing good
18. mark wadsworth said...
Simon68, exactly, the Home-Owner-Ist Mail misses the biggest downside off the list.
19. simon68 said...
BP’s credit rating downgraded by Fitch and S&P is a warning sign. If British government doesn’t embark on substantive work to cut government spending; then it won’t be able to maintain its triple A rating.
No one owes you a triple A rating and the world acceptance of sterling pounds isn’t taken for granted.
20. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
21. sneaker said...
Britain is the worst place to live in Europe?
Because of newspapers like the Daily Mail?!
'Arf!
Captcha: polity carried
22. Smugdog said...
I do so enjoy looking in on the "soup" now and then.
You deserve all that you have made yourselves into.
23. simon68 said...
Nothing personal but Wolverhampton in England is also on Lonely Planet list of worst place to live.
24. simon68 said...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1239478/Wolverhampton-named-fifth-WORST-city-planet.html
AND LONELY PLANET'S NINE MOST HATED CITIES ARE....
• Detroit, Michigan
• Accra, Ghana
• Seoul, South Korea
• Los Angeles, USA
• Wolverhampton, England
• San Salvador, El Salvador
• Chennai, India
• Arusha, Tanzania
• Chetumal, Mexico
25. clockslinger said...
Hate to ask, but is there anybody reading this who has lived abroad for a few years who could contribute some sensible, relevant and informed views? Or I'm off to get my passport out now!
26. mr g said...
@Clockslinger
In answer to your question, if an article is posted from the Mail then many HPC'ers lose all sense of reason and tolerance in their blind hatred of that paper and the Express.
27. mark wadsworth said...
Mr G, it's not 'blind hatred'.
In terms of Home-Owner-Ism, Mail and Express are worst, followed closely by Telegraph and Times (to be fair, both those papers occasionally run articles suggested land value tax) and the least Home-Owner-Ist are the FT and Guardian (which regularly run articles saying that this is madness and/or promoting land value tax).
28. Frank said...
Britain has a culture of iniquity and inequality. The unbridled capitalist greed instilled in people is responsible for 'rip-off" mentality. The lack of reasonable government control (i.e. identity cards) leads to a big brother state obsessed with control. The unarmed police here just beat people down because they feel so vulnerable. The uncontrolled economy, with black-market style lack of restrictions (i.e. ticket touting) and no real limits on loan sharking (i.e 3270% APR for monthly cash advances), unregulated private car clampers and deliberately misleading parking restrictions that catch out nearly every driver and impose (by European comparison) absurdly high parking fines, have lead to a society where everybody tries to exploit or evade the system. This country is clearly eff'd up. I live in London and sometimes I find myself just wishing an atomic bomb would drop on me. OK, can't blame anyone for the weather, but, in such a dreary place, couldn't the people at least be decent to each other. And how many people working for your London Councils are not cheaper foreigners, often with no reasonable feel for the culture they are meant to operate in. Has anyone bothered to find out how many parking attendants or other Council staff might be here on illegal papers or have never been checked for their legitimacy to stay. What a horrendous place - SORRY!
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