14stFlyer

I guess you are basing this 2025 date on the ONS updated projection from early 2022, or this article in the FT based on it? https://www.ft.com/content/7a558711-c1b8-4a41-8e72-8470cbd117e5 Either way, I am afraid this is looking out of date already. Death rate has been higher than birth rate in the U.K. for 2020, 2021 and 2022 so natural decline is already occurring for the U.K. I understand that CoVid19 has an influence on this, but assuming that trends will reverse and that births will again outpace deaths in the U.K. population requires a leap of faith rather than an application of logical thought in my view. Again, this is WAY out of date. It is using projections from a 2014 UN-collated dataset that are now just plain wrong. Everyone knows this. Taking China alone (which also turned negative for natural population growth last year), the central estimate for 2100 is out by hundreds of millions of people. We know this. My view is not based on projection, it is just that since 2014, things have not worked out the way the UN-collators expected in China, India, SE Asia, Europe… and Africa will not grow as much as expected either. Based upon current trends Global population will peak somewhere around 2050 or so, not 2100. And the peak will be over a billion lower than thought a decade ago. Note: looking at very recent papers on sharp national-level fertility drops post-CoVid, it could be even lower and earlier. But this view is more speculative right now as there could be some bounce back.

There is no natural population growth. Our fertility rate in the U.K. is below replacement, as indeed it is for the rest of Europe and indeed most of the rest of the world.

Not true. Lithium for car batteries will remain pricey for a while. Sodium batteries (less energy density) for household storage will get MUCH cheaper.

I think you need to look at recent birth rate trends kzb.

Until we don’t.

Agree with the comments on global complexity. Not sure about the relevance of this to renewable energy, electric cars etc. though. Wind turbines simpler than gas turbines. Electric cars simpler than ICE.

I am not convinced that recognising your hypocrisy and moral failings and then doing nothing about them is better than being ignorant of your sins…

Perhaps we can make living in a house that is too big for you socially unacceptable - go for the angle of it being detrimental to future generations of children being g brought up in cramped, damp and unhealthy accommodation? It would be a bit like the passive smoking campaigns against smokers?

Returning to the boomer bashing of the OP, a couple of the comments in the Guardian article were quite insightful I think. They pointed out that yes, the problem was wealthy middle class retirees who were getting trimmings with their assets whilst young workers are getting fleeced. However, this is not purely a generational thing, it is simply that people with assets and unearned incomes are benefitting unfairly and that most of these people are old. It would be easily solved if it wasn’t for our pesky democratic system and the need for politicians to constantly chase votes…

A lot has happened over 40 years. I think Jeremy was/is right in both instances. What is your point?

Making you part of the problem?

24,100 landlords who got out in time and 24,100 new homeowners who spent too much?

Yup. Looks like a puddle forms on the paved area there and drains in to the wall!

Ah. I think Mr Spy would like to use a big stick. Would Mrs Spy agree?

Some of us do. I worked for a few years at a city centre college / school in the poorest town in the county. Attitudes arising from poor educational experiences, lack of enfranchisement in the system and slum living from nearly 100 years ago are difficult to change. Grandad did not see the point in getting an education, so did not bother to encourage mum. Mum did not see the point in education so did not bother to turn up at parents evening. Jordan and Kyle are not doing great (names are both unfair and a bit out of date).

This is the problem. Taxing unearned income, and less extreme pay differentials for earned income, are the solution.

It already is Winkie. Lack of funding, large numbers of vacancies, poor working conditions, staff burnout and dropping morale. There are still a lot of good people working hard to swim against the tide but…

Getting paid for doing something useful to society and that you enjoy? All good. Getting paid not to do it? That’s less good. To a degree I am with Terry on this one though: we do not have a sensible view on the relative value of people’s work in different parts of our society at present, and it is leading to all sorts of problems.

Until now, saying 2C rise was unavoidable was not scientifically correct, but politically you are clearly being proven right PB. In fact, unless something in our politics changes pretty rapidly (like 40% voting Green?), and some form of global consensus is reached on stopping the fossil fuel dependency, anything other than the status quo appears to be a political impossibility and we will be facing 3C rises by 2100 with all the heatwaves, droughts, climate migrants and human misery this entails. And yet there are people on this site who claim we do not have to take a lead on this, neither individually nor as a nation.

A “Thanks for your service” medal, yes. Six figure severance after 4 or 5 years, no. We need to replace the significant number of self-serving MPs with people who genuinely want to provide public service. This is regardless of their political leanings.

"We're making homes more affordable for our young people than ever before" I am not sure I believe this to be true.

But these individuals have only got into power because people find their behaviours acceptable and vote for them. There is an element of chicken and egg here, with our corrupt leadership reflective of widespread morally suspect behaviours throughout our society. When did it become not just ok, but laudable to live off others?

Ah, the triumph of hope over expectation again!

I am shocked at how many of the MN posters are BTL or AirBnb landlords. I am also shocked that they freely admit to being so. In my view it shows how distorted and morally corrupt our society has become. There is very little understanding of the reality that if you have four dwellings, one for yourself and three to make money, three other families or “households” have no dwelling at all.

Putin-inspired Russians?