'rebalancing' The Economy ...

[Northerner]

We hear it alot nowadays (see below) - but what does it mean? All things to all men? When was it 'balanced' for it to need 'rebalancing'? Is there a consensus on what would a 'rebalanced' economy look like, i.e. when will we know it has been achieved?

[200p]

As much sense, as holding a cookie in each hand, makes a balanced diet.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

REBALANCING THE ECONOMY IN FAVOUR OF THE RICH AND LAND OWNERS

GTF

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

We hear it alot nowadays (see below) - but what does it mean? All things to all men? When was it 'balanced' for it to need 'rebalancing'? Is there a consensus on what would a 'rebalanced' economy look like, i.e. when will we know it has been achieved?

There is no mystery here.

For the Tories, "rebalancing" means getting people out of the public sector so they are less likely to vote labour. For labour, the opposite.

[SpectrumFX]

As far as I understand it, the phrase is generally used to mean off-shoring the means of production and moving to a "service based" economy. The idea being that London makes it's money this way and appears to do well, so the rest of the country should too. It's one of those accepted paradigms in politics that actually makes no sense at all if you think it through for more than 5 minutes. We can't all make a living selling other people down the river.

[zugzwang]

Asset prices vs current prices. Hyperinflation + default is the only thing that will do the trick.

Edited March 31, 2015 by zugzwang

[crashmonitor]

Oh the irony, held in Leeds...needs a rebalancing like a hole in the head. Total fake economy based on student debt (that will be never be repaid) supporting the city's service and property based economy.

Edited March 31, 2015 by crashmonitor

[R K]

In 2014, the UK’s current account deficit was £97.9 billion, up from a deficit of £76.7 billion in 2013. The deficit in 2014 equated to 5.5% of GDP at current market prices. This was the largest annual deficit as a percentage of GDP at current market prices since annual records began in 1948

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bop/balance-of-payments/q4-and-annual-2014/stb-balance-of-payments--q4-2014.html

Duncan Weldon ‏@DuncanWeldon 34m34 minutes ago

Annual UK Current Account (percentage of GDP) 1948-2014.

[workingatthepyramid]

Isn't this what the government has been doing for the last 5 years , I am sure that nice man Dave said that's what they were going to do. How has it worked out for you

[crashmonitor]

Isn't this what the government has been doing for the last 5 years , I am sure that nice man Dave said that's what they were going to do. How has it worked out for you

Never going back to producing real stuff. We trade debt , houses and services, that's mainly it now. Foreigners will just have to continue increasing their stake in Uk plc for us to get the stuff we need like food, fuel and other commodities.

[interestrateripoff]

Re-balancing more for London?

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

Never going back to producing real stuff. We trade debt , houses and services, that's mainly it now. Foreigners will just have to continue increasing their stake in Uk plc for us to get the stuff we need like food, fuel and other commodities.

Why would you want to produce "real stuff" ? LCD panels are as cheap as chips. Ditto a lot of "real" stuff.

Advanced economies can't survive on people making pins, when one pin machine can turn out 40 billion of the things in 5 minutes. What they can survive on is making the pin machinery, designing to software tools to enable people to design the pin making machines etc.

I think people on here have a view that unless you are smacking something with a hammer then there is no economic value in it. That's a very 20th century way of thinking.

[Executive Sadman]

Why would you want to produce "real stuff" ? LCD panels are as cheap as chips. Ditto a lot of "real" stuff.

Advanced economies can't survive on people making pins, when one pin machine can turn out 40 billion of the things in 5 minutes. What they can survive on is making the pin machinery, designing to software tools to enable people to design the pin making machines etc.

I think people on here have a view that unless you are smacking something with a hammer then there is no economic value in it. That's a very 20th century way of thinking.

So you still own your country in 50 years time?

Thats the key difference. Its not the effects now, which are hidden as stuff can still be sold off for debt to be redeemed against, its what the country will look like in 50 years. Japan and Germany will still be owned locally...the economic rent going back to where its extracted.

The UK on the other hand will be owned by people living half way across the world. We'll be tenants in our own land, any surplus we produce shipped off to asia or arabia.

I know in Europe nationalism is a rude word, but the Arabs put their own kind first, and when they can afford to, the Chinese will put their own kind first too. Its time British people accepted, be it racist or not-racist, that's how the world works and how the human mind works, and its time they started looking for leaders who put British people and British interests first in response to every other nation putting their own people first.

[tinker]

There is no mystery here.

For the Tories, "rebalancing" means getting people out of the public sector so they are less likely to vote labour. For labour, the opposite.

Funny isn't? Tory claims today of creating 2m jobs. Politicians don't create jobs unless they are government (public sector) and we know there are more cuts ahead. A government can only create conditions for growth. I think at the moment growth is emperor's new clothes like.

It's only day two of this election, not sure I'm going to be able to take it. 5 weeks of lies, BS and half truths, then disappointment with whoever gets in.

[billybong]

It would be a start to rebalance away from virtual total dependence on the banking/financial/debt/house price/bailout sectors and systems.

Some ability to truly earn a way without the perpetually growing debt/deficit. The days of the blacksmith are over and some effort should be to perhaps develop significant amounts of the often "promised" high quality/advanced technology.

Things have been allowed to deteriorate so much so maybe that's not possible now within any reasonable time scale despite all the "promises" over the years and decades.

Of course the banking and financial sector luddites will do everything in their power to prevent rebalancing progress as the UK economy goes downhill.

If the UK has to have a banking luddite economy then a fairer distribution away from bankers and their bonuses should be developed - not just fiddling around the edges.

There are other areas of rebalancing as well such as private/public sector, North/South, power rebalancing and etc etc etc etc.

Edited March 31, 2015 by billybong

[oracle]

As far as I understand it, the phrase is generally used to mean off-shoring the means of production and moving to a "service based" economy. The idea being that London makes it's money this way and appears to do well, so the rest of the country should too. It's one of those accepted paradigms in politics that actually makes no sense at all if you think it through for more than 5 minutes. We can't all make a living selling other people down the river.

you still need to be able to provide a service that other people around the globe want in order to balance the books.

nail bars and betting shops don't work...they are primarily domestic..so that is just paper-shuffling with no real benefit.

if we wanted real change..we need to start asking councils rather searching questions like "who builds your street-sweepers?"

we have got the capability to make stuff like that here,but councils might not have cottoned onto the fact they might save £2000 on the purchase cost,but that is more than claimed back in benefits(within the first year) by the guy that has been made redundant by not producing them here.

Edited March 31, 2015 by oracle

[wonderpup]

I think we'll find that financial services will gravitate to larger economies.

That's why the banks don't locate their offices in the offshore tax havens used by their clients- who would bail them out when the time came? Bankers need taxpayers and plenty of 'em if they want to gain the benefits of being too big to fail.

[Drained]

Why would you want to produce "real stuff" ? LCD panels are as cheap as chips. Ditto a lot of "real" stuff.

Advanced economies can't survive on people making pins, when one pin machine can turn out 40 billion of the things in 5 minutes. What they can survive on is making the pin machinery, designing to software tools to enable people to design the pin making machines etc.

I think people on here have a view that unless you are smacking something with a hammer then there is no economic value in it. That's a very 20th century way of thinking.

But we need to be the people designing and making the machines to make LCD panels, and having the un/semi skilled them put the LCD panels together. At the moment Britains only input is providing debt to buy them with.

I've seen the 21st century ways of wealth creation and they are inferior to the 20th Century way of thinking.

[cock-eyed octopus]

But we need to be the people designing and making the machines to make LCD panels, and having the un/semi skilled them put the LCD panels together. At the moment Britains only input is providing debt to buy them with.

I've seen the 21st century ways of wealth creation and they are inferior to the 20th Century way of thinking.

GPS is exactly correctomundo. Un/semi skilled operators are precisely the people losing out, first to the even lower paid abroad, then to automation. Designing the machines & making specialised high value product is our best way forward. Oh, & software. Lots & lots of luverrly software.

[bankstersparadise]

GPS is exactly correctomundo. Un/semi skilled operators are precisely the people losing out, first to the even lower paid abroad, then to automation. Designing the machines & making specialised high value product is our best way forward. Oh, & software. Lots & lots of luverrly software.

Which is why we need to have a grown up discussion in society where we address the globalised workforce and explain to our children that they need to compete on this basis.

I've hired 3 people in the last year into very lucrative positions for late 20s early 30s type professionals. UK nationals made up less than 10% of applicant's and none of the positions were filled with UK nationals (although 1 Canadian has since converted).

There are loads of amazing opportunities in the UK but the UK produced labour force isn't competent enough. Luckily we are still attracting lots of skilled workers from abroad who can fill the gaps and pay lots of tax.

The bottom end of the jobs market ie lower or no skilled work clearly has different issues. The service sector is massively deflationary for example since loads of cheaper migrant labour is happy to compete on price and keep wages nailed down.

Kids need to be taught they have to put themselves in a position to compete on skills/quality and not on price.

[bankstersparadise]

Bankers need taxpayers and plenty of 'em if they want to gain the benefits of being too big to fail.

Politicans need banks to pump the excess money supply into the real economy since they are monetising budget deficits. They also need banks to help the financial industry and real economy to make leveraged bets (margin debt, mortgages et al) on risky assets to create phantom capital that then can be re-leveraged to create more phantom capital which will eventually by withdrawn an consumed.

Banks are responding to the situation created by bad economic management by politicans. The politicians are at the top of the ponzi. When this blows again it is clear who is to blame, it really is the same movie as last time. Of course the left wing socialist media will blame capitalism and consequently the banks, despite the fact nothing about our system is capitalist.

[MarkG]

Kids need to be taught they have to put themselves in a position to compete on skills/quality and not on price.

But that's hard. It's much easier to sit back and whine that someone else should give them money because they're so special.

[SNACR]

The fact political economic discourse in this country often contains talk of the 'real' economy leads me to strongly suspect there is almost certainly also a fake bullsh1t economy. I also suspect it's inevitable, those relying on it, for food and shelter, will eventually be in serious trouble.

[erat_forte]

We hear it alot nowadays (see below) - but what does it mean? All things to all men? When was it 'balanced' for it to need 'rebalancing'? Is there a consensus on what would a 'rebalanced' economy look like, i.e. when will we know it has been achieved?

They could start by rebalancing their map of Britain.

[Drained]

^^^^

Christ do people still take Hilary Benn seriously after his father done all he could to avoid paying taxes when he died, which for any Marxist must be the last straw.

At least people like Cameron, Gidiot, Blair became career politicians through their intelligence, this blokes just a wanca.