Field of Nightmares

Yes - but the BOE know nothing about economics... clearly they need to employ @Stewy to set them on the right path! He knows much more about what is required cos - well - he says he does!

Isn't part of the problem that we're still defining politics as the binary of Left vs Right. Life is more nuanced than that. Surely what we really want is to be voting for rational, workable policies, each taken on their own merit. Many, whether Labour or Conservative, would argue that the privitisation of natural monopolies has worked, so taking those back into public ownership would make sense. No - it doesn't have to be like the 70s... that was nearly 50 years ago... life moves on. Equally, competition amongt business to give better value to the custumer, all the while taxing wealth heavily if an individual hits - I don't know - finger in air 10m in wealth. Breaking up large monopolies, generous welfare to those that need it, jail for those that abuse it. etc. I'm just making a point that not one party would put this collection of policies together, but why do we need a party to vote for. The civil service, realistically, run government. Let's use technology to vote for the direction they take the country in on our behalf. With a suitable watchdog to oversee this. Has to be better than the shambles we now have?

Have some decorum @Stewy - boasting about buying a property with cash is somewhat tacky. A gentleman would play his cards closer to his chest.

I wouldn't mute @Stewy as a) his posts entertain me, b) we always need an opposing view if only to focus your own... what I can say, though, is that he comes across as extremely tacky and vulgar, boasting about his personal triumphs and wealth... he would do best to learn some decorum. Sure - you can have a position anywhere on the scale and that should be welcomed here, along with productive discourse (since one of those positions is wrong)... but try to avoid being a Loadsamoney whilst you're having those conversations.

I'm not so sure... I find @Stewy posts entertaining on this forum so wouldn't want to see them disappear... they are reasoned, albeit I disagree with his position. Equally, like @scottbeard said, it's good to be challenged... if he was just calling everyone names, that's different, but he's taking a position and I respect him for that. He might be right, he might be wrong, time will tell, but an echo-chamber is not a healthy place to be; we all need to question our views on a regular basis and be challenged...

Oh I do hope so....

The possibility of significant rate cuts appears to be cratering!!! Plateau here we come...

Based on money coming from where, exactly?

Living standards have been good over the past n decades due to leveraging the past (fossill fuels) and the future (debt)... do you really think we can continue at this pace... sure: when we crack nuclear fusion, that'll be a game changer... but we've got a lot of time between then and now... it's been a wild party run up on the credit card... now it's time to pay the bill

Thankfully I have zero gardens...

I think you could do with learning some humility and decorum @Stewy; your boastings about how well you've done financially come across as - frankly - tacky. Well done if you've lucked into a good financial position in life, but someone worthy would not lord that over others. Else you come across sounding like a Lottery winner, and I'm sure you don't want that?

To quote Bill Hicks: Humanity is a virus, with shoes...

The ideal would be 0% inflation... so no growth... what you put in the bank stays the same value ten years from now... the 2% inflation target is there as a subtle ponzi scheme so that prices go up over time, enough to persuade people to get into debt (thus creating money out of nowhere), whilst deflating their debt away over time. This is considered a sweet spot as it allows debters to be created, but for their debt to be eroded by inflation. Deflation, of course, tips this on the head. Personally, I think it;s what we need. If we are to stop over-consumption, then delaying purchases as goods will become cheaper is what we need. We need to get smaller if we're going to reverse the damage of the past 100 years... else we may as well hand things over to the cockroaches now...

The ideal would be deflation and high interest rates... bring it on...

Yes you can... very easily... much like any ponzi scheme, everything seems 🌹and magical until the moment the truth unfolds... pyramid selling seems like a good idea if you got in first and believe that it's a perpetual money tree... but sooner or later... 3x things can happen: 1) we inflate our way out of the problem through stealth by lying about the actual rate of inflation, 2) we do some crazy debt jubillee which will create even more inequality by letting off the debters, 3) we deflate the economy... 3) is the most sensible at the expense of the last in... but there is no easy choice... we've run of life-boats and people are just about to realise it...