mel in w9

Great post, and very interesting thread. Thank you.

Well based on the fact that he is the leader of the only majority government in the whole of the UK. And considering the Scottish system was initially designed to make it nearly impossible for any one party to have a real majority, it takes a fairly shrewd and intelligent politician to pull it off. He doesn't think the financial markets are going to magically save Britain. But why don't we just see which side of the border is in better shape in 5 years time. Yes, I know your Tory government will save you.

And the debate descends into name calling once again... I intend to help work toward independence. And in 10 years time when Scotland has an economy on par with Norway's (remember Scotland has a whisky industry which is nearly as big as the oil industry), and England is on par with Ireland. We can compare which government was more successful.

9 out of the last 12 years. (6 years in Edinburgh, the last 3 in London. Was back in the States from 2005-2008) BTW, I think what is about to happen to the UK is far, far worse than anything that has happened yet. Which may be why Balls seemed so smug. He knows when the s**t really hits the fan, it will be Cameron/Osborne at the helm not Brown/Darling. I am no New Labour fan. Personally I see no difference between Tony Blair and David Cameron. But I tell you if this country hits the bottom with the Tories in the drivers seat, I suspect you will see the return of the Reds pretty quickly and for the foreseeable future. I am glad I am moving back to Scotland next month. Personally I think Alex Salmond has more sense and intelligence than this entire coalition (and shadow) cabinet combined!

Well I do admit, he did seem to relish the fact that this economy is going to crash with Cameron/Osborne at the helm.

Weren't there TWO Bank Holidays in May???

The sad fact is that as much of jerk as Balls comes off as. He is still far preferable to that bozo Osborne, who actually controls the finances of this nation. Osborne inspires as much confidence to me, as a chocolate teapot. This country is really screwed.

So does the government (ie the taxpayer) initially fund the building of these homes? And what happens if they can't sell them? Does the government (ie. the taxpayer) still have to pay the money? And what massive construction projects are on the horizon in the UK? Take the Shard building which is currently being built in London. When completed it will be the tallest building in Europe. It is supposed to have world class office space and pent house apartments. But it is in one of the crappiest parts of London. (I know I have walked over to see it). I wouldn't live in that area if you paid me. Why on earth would uber wealthy people want to live there? It's not even on the river, its pretty far inland. Perhaps the idea is that when you are up in the sky who cares about the people below? Unless they plan on redeveloping and moving out 85% of Southwark council, this area is not going to change any time soon. Besides where are you going to relocate all of these people? I think building more inadequate housing is not a solution. Like I said before (and others have said as well) there is no shortage of housing space (even in London). There is a shortage of AFFORDABLE housing. Building more at prices no one can afford isn't going to solve that problem. But I suppose it may make some of your private construction company buddies a wad full of (taxpayer) cash in the process.

I completely agree. I live in London, and there is no shortage of housing. There is a shortage of AFFORDABLE housing. More crappy new builds filling up the SE is not going to solve this problem. BTW, there must be 100's of Thousands of square meters of empty office space just in Westminster alone. Why don't they convert some of this space into flats. Many of these buildings sit almost completely vacant. (some are brand new). Clearly that much office space is not needed.

First of all, why would the USA scrap the dollar? What is more likely to happen is the USD will cease to be the supreme currency in the world. The US will still have dollars, but they may just be more on par with a country who is NOT the main currency of the world but has almost $15 Trillion in debt. Not sure what that might look like. BTW, you do realize that China's biggest export market is the EU NOT the US. In that respect China may be more interested in what happens to the Euro than the USD.

What I am trying to say (although apparently not very effectively), is that when the BIG collapse comes, it is going to impact everyone. If you think about it, any person who has a mortgage is buying a house they cannot afford. Only people who are in a position to pay cash for the full asking price are buying something they can afford. When your economy spirals downward, it tends to take everyone with it. Except those with enough money to leave. I mean if you were excessively wealthy would you want to live in a country full of people living in tents and in their cars (or even in empty office space).

I think when all is said and done, the average Greek is going to be better off than the average Brit. In Greece, they have strong family ties. For example, they don't tend to send off their old parents to live in a home. They live much more off the land. Even the poorest families eat better than most British families. When push comes to shove, they can survive with very little. I know its a really popular sentiment on these threads to blame the "lazy public worker". But I think if you did a bit of digging, you would find the biggest tax evaders in Greece tended to be the wealthy. Of course, when things got really bad, I suppose the majority of these people probably just left. Bit like Britain, when the s@@t hits the fan, the wealthy will just leave.

That is what I don't understand about the majority people who post here. You cheer on your own demise. It's odd to say the least. I have always thought it odd that the UK followed the US much more so then it followed the rest of Europe. But wanting to follow the US down the path of rampant homelessness and extreme poverty, is bizarre. At least in Greece and Spain people seem to be fighting back against the "powers that be". Here in the UK many seem to be welcoming the vultures with open arms. I can only hope this mindset really is in the minority.

If you have no money, how do you move? And where do you move to? And where are these jobs going to come from? I don't think you understand. People who are foreclosed on, are forcibly removed from their homes. They are not given another home to move in to. Which is why in America people live in their cars and in tents (Don't believe me, look it up). Of course, some people are fortunate and can perhaps go and live with family elsewhere, but this assumes you have family who have any space for you. It's not some great down scaling of millions. It's more like making millions homeless. Unless, you think in the UK all these people are going go into council housing. But as there seems to be a great shortage of that here, I can't see that being an option for the majority.

I have no solution. Hell I imagine if I did, I wouldn't be sitting at my dining room table posting on this board. I think what I wrote is inevitable for the UK. I just happen to believe most people don't seem to understand the reality of what they seem to be advocating? What is going to happen in the UK if millions of people lose their homes? Where are they going to live? I just think when it happens here it is going to be REALLY ugly for everyone.