[Politics] Brexit

mikeyjh said:

One of you posted a quite objective post, took the time to research and post his/her findings and opinions. The other posted a picture of a book and a smilie in a dunce's hat. I guess we all know who was won that particular debate.

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mikeyjh said:

One of you posted a quite objective post, took the time to research and post his/her findings and opinions. The other posted a picture of a book and a smilie in a dunce's hat. I guess we all know who was won that particular debate.

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David Blanchflower
Professor of economics at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee from June 2006 to May 2009

Unemployment fell by 11,000 on the month but there was a rise in underemployment – measured as part-timers who want full-time jobs – of 14,000. Also there was a big fall in the number of workers from eastern Europe. For the third month in a row real wages – that is, wage rises adjusted for prices changes – declined, this time by 0.5% for June. Even though CPI inflation was 2.6%, wage growth was only 2.1%. Between April and June real pay was down 1.4%, which means a sharp fall in living standards. Hence retail sales remain weak as consumers are squeezed by the fall in their living standards.

The main driver behind this has been the Brexit vote which lowered the pound and increased prices. The claims by some rightwing economists that a free trade nirvana will emerge if there is a hard Brexit has been rightly met this week by incredulity by the economics profession. A letter from 290 prominent economists written a year ago, debunking these claims is relevant here. It turns out that there is a huge disparity between the overwhelming majority of economists that say we would be worse off with Brexit and the handful that say otherwise.


There was other related bad news, including a worsening of the UK’s trade performance. Despite a boost in exports from the lower pound, this was matched by the trade in goods deficit widening unexpectedly to £12.7bn, from £11.3bn in May. Exports fell by 2.8% but imports rose by 1.6%, according to the Office for National Statistics. It was the biggest deficit in nine months and much wider than economists’ forecasts of £11bn.

The move of the public finances to positive territory for the first time in a decade was a brief respite that will not continue. For the year public sector net borrowing at £22.8bn in the four months to July is nearly £2bn higher than it was a year ago.

Andrew Sentance
Senior economic adviser at the PwC consultancy and member of the Bank’s MPC from October 2006 to May 2011

The most recent economic data has not fundamentally changed the post-Brexit picture for the UK economy. Growth is slowing in the UK, while it is picking up elsewhere in the EU. There are two obvious reasons why this is the case. First, Brexit is adding to uncertainty about investment decisions and other long-term economic commitments. Second, inflation has risen because the pound has fallen, and this is squeezing consumers’ purchasing power. Normally, we would expect a recovery in the other EU economies to benefit the UK. Because of Brexit, growth in the UK and other EU economies are now moving in opposite directions.


The pound is now extremely weak in historical terms. Since the euro was launched in 1999, sterling has never been below €1.10 and $1.30 at the same time until this month. The devalued pound does not seem to be boosting exports, but it is eroding living standards and squeezing consumer spending.

The UK continues to look good in terms of employment, but employment is growing faster in continental Europe. In my view, it is likely that UK unemployment will rise over the next year, as growth is slowing, while the jobless total will continue to fall elsewhere in the EU. Over the recovery following the global financial crisis, the UK has been one of the better-performing economies until now. That may now be about to change, as other EU economies gather momentum and the UK economy falters.

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jim in the west said:

all healthcare costs can be reclaimed from the eu national's country of origin. So, if a pole gets hospital treatment in the uk, we can reclaim the costs from the polish government. There's no "looking into it" - it's the system already.

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Jim in the West said:

As has been inferred elsewhere, the main reason we don't reclaim all the costs is through our own administrative inefficiency. Unfortunately, some prefer to blame the EU (as - in their minds - every ill that the UK suffers is the fault of the nasty EU). If we bothered to properly resource the relevant administrative functions we could have the same levels of control over EU foreign nationals as many other countries in the EU already have. Rather than put our own house in order, the likes of Mrs May prefer to point fingers at other - far more efficient - countries. It's embarrassing.

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Two Professors said:

Try reading the thread title before posting,you humourless,stupid,moron

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CHAPPERS said:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/23/growth-uk-brexit-data-consumer-squeeze

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The Clamp said:

He's certainly got a vastly superior grasp on the matter than you. One poster writes a thoughtful, referenced, considered post on the subject. You and Tweedledum post emojis and call people morons. No comparison. You and JC have both been comprehensively owned. Again.

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Two Professors said:

Remember Andrew Neill making Blanchflower look a complete buffoon on the Politics show on the BBC.Tries to blame everything on Brexit,and has been saying it will cause a financial meltdown since 2015.Then admitted another article he'd written about cyclical recession predicted we were already in one.

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Two Professors said:

You should try reading the thread title as well,dopey.'Brexit name calling'.So you are the one being owned,you clueless oaf!

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The Clamp said:

I don't remember, can you post a link? Cheers.

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Two Professors said:

Google is your friend,and I'm too dense.I'm off to drown my sorrows-I'm so upset at all the insults!

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JC Footy Genius said:

Our General elections also usually end up in a binary choice red or blue government with visceral simplistic arguments overriding the complex pressing needs of the country. Big single issues also get lost in the fog of war, party tribalism.

The main problem was our representative democratic institutions weren't representing the views of all the people. All major parties were of the same mind re the EU. So a party did spring up and gain support. We had 4 million + people voting UKIP, 25% in the polls and getting no representation in parliament (until defections). We also had numerous polls showing anything up to 70% of people wanting immigration reduced, yet all the main parties either ignored them or lied to them. I don't think you would have really wanted to see UKIP grow any further in support.

When it comes to decisions about who governs us with a constant gradual transfer of powers away from our parliament the people should have a direct unambiguous say if this is a path they are happy to go down. 52% (for whatever reason) said no thanks.

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Two Professors said:

You should try reading the thread title as well,dopey.'Brexit name calling'.So you are the one being owned,you clueless oaf!

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Mental Lental said:

Oh feck off you cretin. Didn't even attempt to address any of the points I made you just claimed you "can probably" draw up a lengthy list of flaws blah blah blah. Oh no but wait all you actually did was post a shitty meme and a dunce emoji.

So we're back to calling each other names again and the cycle never stops. Ok well I was down with that before, in fact I think I called one of you a windowlicker and it seemed to scratch a nerve so I'll continue down that road since you don't have anything else to say. Here's how I feel when I read another round of ill informed drivel from your lot.....

View attachment 88466

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JC Footy Genius said:

NEW EU regulations from 1 September will ban powerful vacuum motors being sold and imported in the UK. Consumers have been warned to "act quickly" if they're in the market for a vacuum cleaner.

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/844829/EU-rules-buy-a-vacuum-Dyson-hoover-cleaner

Thank god this madness will soon end. #takebackcontrol

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JC Footy Genius said:

NEW EU regulations from 1 September will ban powerful vacuum motors being sold and imported in the UK. Consumers have been warned to "act quickly" if they're in the market for a vacuum cleaner.

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/844829/EU-rules-buy-a-vacuum-Dyson-hoover-cleaner

Thank god this madness will soon end. #takebackcontrol

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BigGully said:

I know you are desperate to be given an A* from your mates for that tedious effort of a post, but you then go on to compound your earlier incursion of unacceptable references with a new vamped up animation of 'Windowlicker', are your seriously that dim.

Why oh why have you compiled a number of selected links and quotes to then offer up as anything more than a 12 year old homework project I will never know, its a million words too long irrespective of its merits, but you are serving it up as if it is some definitive academic paper, its all a little awkward.

You might get a few 'pats on the back' from the usual suspects, but my god man give the windowlicking reference a miss and cut your posts down to no more than six words, four if possible.

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The Clamp said:

We'd all rather have one or two long, we'll written posts than fifty of your one paragraph twatfests.

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