Thursday, November 18, 2010
You’ve never had it so good!!!
Lord Young apology over 'never had it so good' remarks
'The Prime Minister's enterprise adviser has apologised after saying British people had "never had it so good" despite the "so called recession". Lord Young of Graffham told the Daily Telegraph the Bank of England's decision to cut the base rates to 0.5%, meant many homeowners were better off. He said complainers felt they had the right to be supported by the state.'
Posted by sarah f @ 11:54 PM (1560 views)
17 thoughts on “You’ve never had it so good!!!”
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Dungbeetle says:
And do you know what… he is probably right!
notyethomeless says:
Well, he’s right, on average. We live longer, have higher incomes, better health, more access to education and more freedoms than any generation or nation before us.
A hundred and seventy years ago, if you defaulted on a debt, you’d be benefitting from state-funded accommodation; not because they pay your mortgage, but because you’d be in prison.
Lucky us.
Jonboy2010 says:
He is right if you are unemployed got 5 kids or come from another country you never had it so good.
cynicalsoothsayer says:
Did an Edwina Currie, spoke the truth out of turn.
dbc reed says:
He’s right.The mystery is why with hundreds of pounds extra a month to spend in the shops , there is n’t some kind of homeownerist retail boom.Gordon Brown was “banking” on this (its orthodox economics after all) but it did n’t save him and it has n’t shown up since.( It would probably have made more sense ,from the retail p.o.v. only, to have left interest raters high because the older generation of savers would probably have spent more.)The old Velocity of Circulation problem?
mark wadsworth says:
In the context of Home-Owner-Ist DoubleThink, what he said made perfect sense. It is quite true that people with big mortgages save “up to” £600 a month, but by definition, somewhere else a saver is worse off by £600 a month (me, for example).
And respect to him for quitting politics after five years and going off to do something else.
flashman says:
1 poster plus 4 comments equals 3
paul says:
Indeed [email protected]
There is a weird logic in the media that says “interest rate cuts are an economic win-win because indebted people benefit and there are lots of indebted people and lets forget about savers.”
In reality its not ‘win-win’ but ‘zero sum’. You add to someone’s disposable income with a rate cut only by symmetrically and in equal measure, removing someone else’s wealth.
I don’t think even the Bank of England truly understands this, or if they do, their policies are truly a malicious long term threat to economic stability.
righttoleech says:
Mark, only the feckless count. Savers are irrelevant collatoral.
sibley's b'stard child says:
@ 5
Sounds rather cryptic Flash; is that a clue from today’s Times crossword?
str 2007 says:
Yes Flashman
What are you going on about ?
You’re starting to sound like Crunchy et al.
mark wadsworth says:
@ SBC and STR, Flash is an eternal optimist, and thank Heavens for that, if we were all pessimists, the human race would die out, as is Lord Young, it would appear.
a saver says:
It was obvious what Lord Young meant and he was right that borrowers and bankers have been given subsidies beyond their wildest dreams (and my worst nightmares as a saver). Ultra low IRs have provided ample chances to pay down debt and plenty of chances to sell overpriced houses in an artificially propped up market, so people should be in a better position to face unemployment if it happens (not that I’m wishing that on anyone). I know plenty of ‘homeowners’ who have been paying £30-100 per month to live in a new detached house, don’t tell me they haven’t had it good.
flashman says:
Of course he’s right. Unemployment is nowhere near the levels of past recessions and most people have kept hold of the bulk of the salaries that were bloated by 20 years of boom times. Compound that with ridiculously low mortgage interest rates and it all makes sense. I think that there is a tiny minority of people who are so consumed with hatred of the Tory party, that they criticise anything and everthing, by default. I’ve never voted for the Tory party but one thing I find refreshing about today’s political climate is that most people are able to cheer something they like, regardless of which party it comes from. The thoughtless, automatic haters are a throw back to the days of blind partisanship. They remind me of the Jap soldiers who were still armed on pacific islands, 20 years after the war finished.
str 2007 says:
So true Flash,
I’ve always wondered why people always vote for the same Party with a ‘football like religion’ instad of listening to what is being said and vote for that, instad of someone doing the thinking for them.
Re: the recession, not a truer word spoken, I’ve heard several people saying they can’t get tables at restaurants etc. It seems pretty clear to me that everyone now would expect the State to bailout any situation.
I can’t help thinking this cemented mindset will lead to future problems on a bigger scale – but what do I know. I couldn’t even work out your conundrum above !
letthemfall says:
He would have been accurate if he had said that some have never had it so good at the expense of those who have never had it so bad.
Eratome says:
the saddest part of the Lord Young fiasco is the fact that he felt it necesary to apologise for speaking the truth !