Ben from Dover

I agree. Although I don't think it is fair to compare Europe to Norway. It is a bit like comparing Sudan with Qatar. Due to a small population and huge energy resources they don't have the same problems as much of the world. don't they have the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, bigger than china or any of the oil rich middle east states? How is Switzerland doing?

would you mind saying that again in a way I can get my head around. I've read it a couple of times but can't work out what you mean?

i know there is a well established other thread on this but i think Australia will do well for a long time. you are right it is a commodity fulled ponzi, but there is so much scope for growth because there they have so much natural resources. the only growth that can really happen in the UK now that property and public sector employment bubbles are set to pop is will have to be technology driven. Green jobs and the like. And I can't see that replacing housing and the public sector. To be fair we never could have competed with Australia as we are in a very different situation in terms of what possible drivers for future growth are open to us.

Not on the ground, i was there recently and they are very aware of the economic crisis and there have been a lot of job losses in the smaller cities. They have strong GDP growth but it is concentrated in a few cities and comes with really high inflation. I think we have to face up to the fact that it is a global phenomenon but it is fair to say that we couldn't possibly be in a worse position and it will effect us more than most.

It also makes you realize what an intentional distraction the afghan war is. It's like the wars in 1984 (the book not the year) At least 1/2 the questions seemed to be about this war which has little effect and basically no positive benefit to the lives of people hear. Nothing about making life better for UK citizens, increasing employment prospects or bringing the cost of living to an achievable level. Lots of questions about how much armor our land rovers have.

You have made my day we will also be better off than the 1950's. Technology has moved on - internet, mobile phones, better cars, 3D cinema and every house has at least one vase with twigs in it

thats how he answers every question Questioner: "Gordon, what is your first name" Gordon: "I'm more concerned about David Cameron's first name" Questioner: "but surely you know your own name" Gordon: My knowledge of my own name is increasing, and besides if the conservatives hadn't done more 15 years ago I would know my own name" 1/2 of it is staged and the other half goes round in a circle.

Is she hot

PMQ's always seem so bland to me and mostly scripted. The odd occasion when a real challenging question is raised, it is just ignored and instead brown brings up Lord Ashcroft And example: 1225 Labour's David Winnick says Michael Foot was one of the "greatest patriots" the UK has had. He asks about the government's policy on torture - Mr Brown says it opposes the practice. whats the point?

I am sooo jealous of you

Thanks for the insight. Brings a new perspective to the 'debt is wealth' mantra So 97% of people own their own houses outright? Cricky. I've actually got a Thai aunt, maybe I'll buy a house in her name. What could I get for £60K

hmmm - on that reasoning I'm going to vote labour. they will probably bring HPC quicker through simply being sh!t

It's fine we have moved on from the dark ages of electing people, we now choose them through 'consensus'. That will bring us strong leadership

At least we have this guy in charge now

I was under the impression that you guys in Asia had some pretty big unpopped bubbles of your own that are going in cause similar problems. What is your take?

I suggest we all start using it at work to shift responsibility when things do go well. "unexpectedly the fact that I've spent all day reading this forum has meant that I haven't achieved anything at all" It seems that in modern Britain, if something is 'unexpected' it can't possibly be any body's fault and we shouldn't blame the government who are doing so much for those hard working families. The earth quake in Chili - unexpected - no ones fault The disaster in Haiti - unexpected - no ones fault UK's economy has been built on sand with very few jobs but incredibly high prices and very little production causes all economic stats to go down - unexpected - no ones fault High house prices cause revolution - unexpected - no ones fault

I think we are headed that way no matter what happens at the election - sorry

Can't believe you forgot house prices. High house prices (with low incomes) must shurely cause increased suicided. Especially in a culture where if you don't own a house (aka owe a massive mortgage) you are a second class citizen

I consider myself to be a geek but that is a really strange idea of fun

From what I've seen MSE is a forum for people who are hoping that HPI will pay off their debts for them. I think the poll simply shows the hopes of the vastly indebted and for that reason is actually quite interesting. Perhaps the message is finally getting across as most people there are expecting only very small rises.

That was a really interesting read, thanks for posting it. Maybe they should update the article to include this little bad boy http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=burj%20khalifa&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi Finished pretty much to the day that Dubai went bust (and just in time for them to name it after their next door neighbor who bailed them out)

UK COAL rose over 12% on the stock market today on the back of your post, are you aware of the power you have : http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-news/stocks/risers-and-fallers/risers-fallers.html

i wonder what the figure would be for us brits? I wouldn't be surprised to find out that 27% of Brits have no savings plus 40K's worth of unsecured debts.

Plus some people saw the trigger for the Credit Crunch as being the record high oil prices. If such high prices have an effect like that pre-credit crunch, imagine the effect while things are already half way down the crapper. P.S I know I'm mixing up oil price and petrol price but hopefully you still get my point.

could you buy some $ around the end of the month as I'm going on holiday?