Do you want to discuss boring politics? (19 Viewers)

PVA

Well-Known Member
Well now ‘Remainer’ describes someone wanting to remain outside the EU

The Wire Reaction GIF
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Are you deliberately ignoring his eye-catching chess revival policy! Just what we need in a cost of living crisis!
I’ll be honest as a chess player and someone quite strongly involved with junior chess locally, it’s a good thing he’s doing and won’t cost much.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
Interest rates expected to rise again later. Sunak couldn’t have picked a better day to go on holiday.
That’s a strange comment Tony. It’s school holidays so when’s he supposed to go on holiday ? It’s also BoE decision to increase interest rates. If they’d done this more aggressively a year/18 months ago, maybe we’d have a little bit better control of inflation now

Ps he should never have said he’ll get inflation down as there’s minimal influence governments have over this in normal times….other than choose to not pump 10s or 100s billions into economy during high inflationary times
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
That’s a strange comment Tony. It’s school holidays so when’s he supposed to go on holiday ? It’s also BoE decision to increase interest rates. If they’d done this more aggressively a year/18 months ago, maybe we’d have a little bit better control of inflation now

Ps he should never have said he’ll get inflation down as there’s minimal influence governments have over this in normal times….other than choose to not pump 10s or 100s billions into economy during high inflationary times
Maybe he should reimburse those of us with mortgages for the carnage his predecessor has caused. Or at the very least accept that they caused it.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
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Maybe he should reimburse those of us with mortgages for the carnage his predecessor has caused. Or at the very least accept that they caused it.

There is no doubt that Truss caused a spike in mortgages rates (and anyone who had to change mortgages in the period pre Sunak would have a good argument for reimbursement) but inflation has stayed high so BoE has had to continue to raise rates anyway. Mortgage rates now are nothing to do with Truss.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
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There is no doubt that Truss caused a spike in mortgages rates (and anyone who had to change mortgages in the period pre Sunak would have a good argument for reimbursement) but inflation has stayed high so BoE has had to continue to raise rates anyway. Mortgage rates now are nothing to do with Truss.
My point being that his government has shamelessly tried to blame striking workers for economic problems that have actually been exacerbated by terrible policy.
 

fernandopartridge

Well-Known Member
That’s a strange comment Tony. It’s school holidays so when’s he supposed to go on holiday ? It’s also BoE decision to increase interest rates. If they’d done this more aggressively a year/18 months ago, maybe we’d have a little bit better control of inflation now

Ps he should never have said he’ll get inflation down as there’s minimal influence governments have over this in normal times….other than choose to not pump 10s or 100s billions into economy during high inflationary times

Interest rates have risen 12 times since December 2021. No wonder the country is in the utter state it is with all the nonsense you Tories believe in.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
Interest rates have risen 12 times since December 2021. No wonder the country is in the utter state it is with all the nonsense you Tories believe in.

If we’d stopped printing money earlier and increased rates quicker ie higher earlier (when inflation started to increase) rather than small increases over a long period we might not have to still be increasing now into a weak economy. Even BoE have finally admitted as much. Many had been saying this for months before they started raising rates

The western world got addicted to cheap/free money and there was always going to be a period of payback. Unfortunately it might well get worse before it gets better
 

fernandopartridge

Well-Known Member
It's laughable, no reference at all to the price gouging by the energy companies and its downstream impact? Is that all because of "free money".

How can real terms wages still be behind where they were in 2008 yet somehow all the money printing is creating inflation.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
That’s a strange comment Tony. It’s school holidays so when’s he supposed to go on holiday ? It’s also BoE decision to increase interest rates. If they’d done this more aggressively a year/18 months ago, maybe we’d have a little bit better control of inflation now

Ps he should never have said he’ll get inflation down as there’s minimal influence governments have over this in normal times….other than choose to not pump 10s or 100s billions into economy during high inflationary times
It was an observation more than a comment. No need to be so touchy about it ;)

The problem is though Steve that interest rates are a reflection on the state of the country. They’ve just very quietly announced that we’re delaying taking back control of our borders again because it will hit food inflation, they’re already warning that energy prices are set to rise again over the winter due to our lack of storage facilities for gas. It’s a reaction to 13 years of failed Tory policies coming to a head. The country is in the worst state I can remember it in at 50 years of age. It’s the 70’s all over again.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
If we’d stopped printing money earlier and increased rates quicker ie higher earlier (when inflation started to increase) rather than small increases over a long period we might not have to still be increasing now into a weak economy. Even BoE have finally admitted as much. Many had been saying this for months before they started raising rates

The western world got addicted to cheap/free money and there was always going to be a period of payback. Unfortunately it might well get worse before it gets better
Doesn’t QE by buying bonds and selling assets to stimulate the economy (which is what the BOE has been doing) help reduce long term interest rates?
 
D

Deleted member 9744

Guest
Given everything else that's going on I'm not sure it's what the PM should be focusing on no matter how worthy.
Agreed but at least it is not actually damaging like Rwanda/barge and environmental policies. Something positive no matter how small is rare from this Government.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
Doesn’t QE by buying bonds and selling assets to stimulate the economy (which is what the BOE has been doing) help reduce long term interest rates?

QE* pumps more cash into the economy which increases asset prices and can cause inflation (its not obviously the only cause obviously, supply side issues post pandemic and war were major ones)

*presume you meant buying other financial assets not selling

Edit - I was googling when Andy Haldine (former BoE chief economist) had advised BoE board about the risks of inflation. This is an interesting article from April ‘22 that explains some of the issues with not stopping QE/raising rates quicker better than I can
 
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D

Deleted member 9744

Guest
If we’d stopped printing money earlier and increased rates quicker ie higher earlier (when inflation started to increase) rather than small increases over a long period we might not have to still be increasing now into a weak economy. Even BoE have finally admitted as much. Many had been saying this for months before they started raising rates

The western world got addicted to cheap/free money and there was always going to be a period of payback. Unfortunately it might well get worse before it gets better
The impact of raised interest rates is crippling not just on mortgages but also rents. Report today from London councils that one in 50 people in London are homeless or living in temporary accommodation including over 83,000 children.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
The impact of raised interest rates is crippling not just on mortgages but also rents. Report today from London councils that one in 50 people in London are homeless or living in temporary accommodation including over 83,000 children.

I know. My point was that if we’d been more aggressive with rate rises/stopping QE earlier we maybe wouldn’t still be increasing rates now. Im not just blaming BoE, a lot of this ties back into post pandemic supply/demand issues and the war causing energy price shock. I just think if they’d been more proactive we’d have been in a better shape by now. The government isn’t blameless either
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
If we’d stopped printing money earlier and increased rates quicker ie higher earlier (when inflation started to increase) rather than small increases over a long period we might not have to still be increasing now into a weak economy. Even BoE have finally admitted as much. Many had been saying this for months before they started raising rates

The western world got addicted to cheap/free money and there was always going to be a period of payback. Unfortunately it might well get worse before it gets better

Or we could try and claw backsome of that printed money fromits ultimate recipients but we no the tories aren't going to do that so the rest of us suffer.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
It was an observation more than a comment. No need to be so touchy about it ;)

The problem is though Steve that interest rates are a reflection on the state of the country. They’ve just very quietly announced that we’re delaying taking back control of our borders again because it will hit food inflation, they’re already warning that energy prices are set to rise again over the winter due to our lack of storage facilities for gas. It’s a reaction to 13 years of failed Tory policies coming to a head. The country is in the worst state I can remember it in at 50 years of age. It’s the 70’s all over again.

haha, not touchy, I just never agree with this ‘PMs can’t go on holiday’ stuff

Interest rates aren’t a reflection on state of the country. They’re used as a tool to try to control inflation by encouraging less spending (corporate and personal) and more saving. Bond rates can be a reflection of confidence in a country (also take into consideration anticipated central banks rates).

Im not saying the country isn’t in a bit of a mess by the way, just trying to separate out inflation/interest rates from other issues
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
haha, not touchy, I just never agree with this ‘PMs can’t go on holiday’ stuff

Interest rates aren’t a reflection on state of the country. They’re used as a tool to try to control inflation by encouraging less spending (corporate and personal) and more saving. Bond rates can be a reflection of confidence in a country (also take into consideration anticipated central banks rates).

Im not saying the country isn’t in a bit of a mess by the way, just trying to separate out inflation/interest rates from other issues

Unfortunately even if you think raising interest rates is the way out of this the affect its having is stubbornly slow compared to many comparable economies. The tories don't appear to be the economic hot shots they make out.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
QE* pumps more cash into the economy which increases asset prices and can cause inflation (its not obviously the only cause obviously, supply side issues post pandemic and war were major ones)

*presume you meant buying other financial assets not selling
Seems to me one of the biggest drivers of food inflation is our food imports rose almost 20% last year, meanwhile food production in the UK has fallen. The B word has added almost £6Bn to the cost of food imports from the EU even with the delay of further checks, it’s also robbed our farming industry of the flexible workforce it new cutting production and the trans pacific trade deal is only going to make things worse for farmers. A lot of our issues are self inflicted from a stagnant economy from 2009 now known to be caused by the failed austerity policies to the decision to allow our gas storage to be sold off to Brexit. All on the Tories watch. It’s these things that are driving inflation not historically low interest rates, interest rates rising are a reaction to our long term political choices.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately even if you think raising interest rates is the way out of this the affect its having is stubbornly slow compared to many comparable economies. The tories don't appear to be the economic hot shots they make out.
Exactly, given how stubborn it is compared to many comparable economies it has to be other issues that are unique to the UK that are driving it. Not historically low interest rates and QE.
 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
Exactly, given how stubborn it is compared to many comparable economies it has to be other issues that are unique to the UK that are driving it. Not historically low interest rates and QE.

You’re talking like other European countries aren’t struggling with inflation. We’re 1.5% more than EU average but some of those countries, like Germany have been in a mild recession, which helps reduce inflation.

Our food price inflation is higher (17.3 v EU av 13.8). This is partly through us having to import more food than others and also probably a bit of profiteering. Polands a bit more than us, Hungarys 29.8% both in EU ?! Each country is different and will have their own individual inflationary challenges for different reasons.

We have a tight labour market which is leading to higher increases in wages (needed) which may also make inflation more sticky

anyway, far too much time on here today and why I try to avoid these days !!
 

jimmyhillsfanclub

Well-Known Member
BoE forecasts aren't worth Jack.

Whilst QE and the artificial suppression of interest rates for well over a decade was always gonna come back and bite us, a large chunk of the spike has been caused by large-scale and extreme profiteering in the energy, banking, food and retail sectors.
I'm sick of the "war in Ukraine" excuses which are frankly horseshit for the most part.
Profiteering within the industrial supply chain post covid has also been rife.
I've been paying more than double the 2020 prices for componentry that I import, and whilst lead-times have returned to normal, the prices have not.

The British personal finances are suffering more mainly due to eye watering levels of consumer debt we carry.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
You’re talking like other European countries aren’t struggling with inflation. We’re 1.5% more than EU average but some of those countries, like Germany have been in a mild recession, which helps reduce inflation.

Our food price inflation is higher (17.3 v EU av 13.8). This is partly through us having to import more food than others and also probably a bit of profiteering. Polands a bit more than us, Hungarys 29.8% both in EU ?! Each country is different and will have their own individual inflationary challenges for different reasons.

We have a tight labour market which is leading to higher increases in wages (needed) which may also make inflation more sticky
That’s your own spin Steve, I’m not saying that at all.

Hungarys issues stem around a far right government historically trying to move away from Europe and closer to Russia. Because of that they became heavily reliant on Russian imports meaning they’ve been hit particularly hard by EU sanctions on Russia compared to other EU or indeed non EU European countries, they put their eggs in the wrong basket. Couple that with their currency being vulnerable due to being a small player in the currency market the Forint has bombed. They’re in a similar situation to us. They’ve put their faith in the wrong ideology for the last decade.
 

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