reddog

Seems like this was a HS2 election tbh. Probably will give false hope to the lib Dems, which might be a problem because I see Lid Dem type voters switching to the Greens across Europe.

I actually took a small pay cut due to being made redundant then having to take another job. Not complaining to much about the pay, but my friend arranged for me to interview for a new job, I passed the interview but was informed they are not hiring people directly at the moment, so I have to work for one of their preferred outsourcing companies. Will probably stick this job for a while and then switch, if I had been hired directly o would have been much more motivated etc.

I would have sympathy with Cummings if he was proposing the opposite, i.e. that the government had been way too cautious and therefore saddled the country with debt's that will take generations to repay, and thus limited the opportunities for young and unborn people. I don't see how Cummings can argue for anything tough than the already Draconian laws. I think he has lost touch, he seems pretty desperate.

My office (not in the UK) has informed me that people in the office will currently have to wear a mask at all times, unless they have their own personal office and are alone! Was complaining about home office, but maybe I will try to spin it out a bit longer.

RE: my Betamax anology, I guess you are kind of ok to get an electric car now, surely manufacturers have to support it for at least 10 years. Though if you get into it, there are a number of questions still as to what will be the standard will be, for example for batteries, I think there are different types, pouch batteries, cell batteries..still not decided. It might almost be worth leasing. I imagine in the future, it will be very difficult to run a car for 20 years, might only be worth having for 3 or 4 like a mobile phone.

Marketing? I do take your point, it would be a bit silly to outlay a lot of cash for a car, until it is established what the next generation of cars will be, obviously some sort of electric, but you don't want to end up with a "Betamax" car. (Obviously I realise you might need a car for practical reasons)

I've got Italy marked as the country that will be a whole world of pain post Covid. Personally I think this will cause something to break in Italy and the wider EU. I've only been in Italy twice (2002 and 2015), was in northern Italy on my second visit, the place really seemed to have gone down. I guess the League will do well in the next elections, but I doubt if they will do anything like pull out of the Euro. I guess Italy needs a massive bailout or to go bankrupt. Yet another post covid nightmare, maybe it is my age (45) but there seems to be a problem around eve

After the last 18 months, I can definitely understand why people want a new start. I find home office pretty annoying at times, though one or two days a week might be good. Though the company I work for has no plans to change their home office approach. Also Zoom calls with many people that don't have any input to give seem to be par for the course.

Totally agree with this, it doesn't seem to be discussed much in the press, there was a time when a few percent on debt to GDP would cause s lot of worry, it doesn't seem to be thought about now. One theory I have is they don't want Covid to end because they don't want to think about the reality that comes next.

I agree with this. My mom's neighbors are renting, they are constantly in the front garden smoking.

Good point, though a bit depressing speaking as a 45 year old! However Google tells me that the oldest boomers are actually 74, which is also older than I expected, as i thought they had just stated to retire. (I think different organisations have different definitions as to what a boomer is)

Makes the baby boomers look like not such a big group, and the gen-x-ers aren't that far off them. I am guessing the millennials are bolstered by immigration hence there size, but they do seem be the biggest group.

It's almost a diamond!, I feel sorry for the ones at the bottom. I've read s few reports about how the already abismal Italian birth rate got a lot worse with Covid. Stating the bleeding obvious, but this will be the biggest challenge Italy (and quite a few other European countries) gout forward.

Are the millennials really a big group? I know they are bigger than genx, but in general the birthrate has been declining for a long time.

I definitely think no need to continue. My thought is there is no job for these people to go back to, but the employer is just "being nice" to the employee, giving them an extended notice/redundancy at the expense of the tax payer. The real nice thing to do would be to let them go, while job market is bouyant.