Obvallated oakus: oppignorating ourselves...

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2.5 trillion. Two point five TRILLION. That is now the UK national debt. No matter that we see chronic wastage everywhere: on Net Zero (Milliband brothers clown show), IT failures, Quantative Easing, Bank bailouts, HS2, Furlough (yes, we won't forget), Track and Trace, (is Hancock in gaol?), more levels of government, more expenses, more overpaid shysters, etc, etc...etc (and NO it has nothing to do with Liz ousted-in-a-soft-coup Truss). [edit: Every WEEK the interest is 100 billion...Every. Week. ] Sorry: Last year debt interest was 100 billion. 

"In the time it takes you to read this sentence, the national debt has increased by more than £20,000."

Or almost 16 million quid per HOUR. The UK debt clock can be see HERE and I recall when it passed one trillion; yes, at 16 minutes past five in the afternoon of 17th Jan 2011 to be exact; how can I be so sure? Because I blogged an update back then. 

The Tax Payer's Alliance have relaunched their "ticking debt clock! 15 years after our original ground breaking campaign publicising the extent of the UK’s national debt." Yippee! 

Searching through the archives it isn't hard to see where the problem began to skyrocket, although to be clear it is decades of red and blue and all governments are to blame. It is just a shame The Guardian have removed all the comments (OK, it is 11 years ago - ahem - but I would have liked to have reread an Old Ows opinion and my 'highly recommended' points: presumably NOT as petty as this: 

"What irritated me was that in the image [...] they had squeezed the picture of [Gordon] Brown far to the left making him appear over only those 'good' years of surplus (which was when, as we all know, he followed Conservative spending plans) and have the picture of Darling spread over most of the Crash Gordon years and we ALL now know, and it isn't hard to see, that Britain's debt soared from 2000 and Brown was to blame. It is petty things like the positioning of the Chancellors' pictures that annoy me (yes, yes, OK, I'm small minded and petty when it comes to Gordon Brown). 

Yes, despite the Conservatives not helping (Blue Labour) I still blame New Labour (Blair, Brown et el...) and you won't change my mind.

Anyway, you may have heard of the Big Mac Index, well the UK national debt (at this moment in time...on no, now it's gone up...and using the World Population Clock) could buy 72 Big Macs, for each and every single living person on the planet...yes, that's the reason for the image above :-) 

Obama's overreaching oar...

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Blogpost title referring to Obama (all posts) infamously (IMHO :-) ) sticking his overreaching oar into purely UK matters...now Creepy Joe has done the same (in what many call Obama's third term):

Friday: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says:

"And, you know, we’ve been very clear — like, we won’t comment on the UK government’s — their dem- — their own domestic policies or internal decision-making... [...] 

"So, not something that we’re going to comment on.

But anything specifically that’s related to their domestic policies or domestic decisions, we’re just not going to comment on that." [LINK]

Saturday: cue Sleepy/Creepy Joe/Brandon doing exactly what she said they wouldn't do: commenting on domestic policies (reported today in UK).

You may claim it's international because err...because the mini-budget caused worldwide ructions...really? Of course part of it could be THIS,** [OECD tax database] doing what TPTB don't want you to do; that could explain the IMF's strange intervention and now Creepy Joe. "The Biden administration wants to raise the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28%, so it has proposed a global minimum of 21% – double the rate on the current GILTI tax." 

Of course none of it is anything to do with trillions in debt, derivative failures, failing banks, looming crash, years of quantative easing, lockdown lunacy etc...

**Source: 145cm.net/finance

Obama's overreaching oar...

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Blogpost title referring to Obama (all posts) infamously (IMHO :-) ) sticking his overreaching oar into purely UK matters...now Creepy Joe has done the same (in what many call Obama's third term):

Friday: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says:

"And, you know, we’ve been very clear — like, we won’t comment on the UK government’s — their dem- — their own domestic policies or internal decision-making... [...] 

"So, not something that we’re going to comment on. But anything specifically that’s related to their domestic policies or domestic decisions, we’re just not going to comment on that." [LINK]

Saturday: cue Sleepy/Creepy Joe/Brandon doing exactly what she said they wouldn't do: commenting on domestic policies (reported today in UK).

You may claim it's international because err...because the mini-budget caused worldwide ructions...really? Of course part of it could be THIS,** [OECD tax database] doing what TPTB don't want you to do; that could explain the IMF's strange intervention and now Creepy Joe. "The Biden administration wants to raise the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28%, so it has proposed a global minimum of 21% – double the rate on the current GILTI tax." 

Of course none of it is anything to do with trillions in debt, derivative failures, failing banks, looming crash, years of quantative easing, lockdown lunacy etc...

**Source: 145cm.net/finance

Opus on opaque Ostpolitik...

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Not looking good. John [The Slog] in outstanding form on 'Germany and the Russian Debt Bomb'. THIS is Part 2. 

The 'appetiser': "you probably failed to notice this, but Russia paid its due debt installment in full last Friday. You probably didn’t see that, because the MSM blanked it." [sic]

The entrée: "In a nutshell, driving Russia into default risks a nuclear chain reaction that is impossible to predict….and anyone telling you otherwise (eg the Pentagon) is lying." 

The conclusion: "...there is one depressing certainty in 21st century life: our economic system, US democracy, EU fiscal stability, media investigation, bureaucratic rules, banking credibility, corporate governance, NATO information, health science, civil policing, military intelligence and financial sectors are all irreparably compromised by greed, mendacity and unachievable globalist megalomania." 

I am presuming too that you have all noticed that China, India (and very early on Pakistan, "so much excitement") and now the Emirates are all overtly not-quite-cosying-up to Russia but certainly not turning them away and making gains while the EU and the UK are failing and going backwards at every level, even propaganda. 

And off topic but really very much on topic, you know what hasn't gone away:

"The choice is ours. We can either go back to sleep and follow the shiny baubles of the latest breaking news on the MSM news feeds or we can continue to focus on the creation of the biosecurity state..."

Opus on opaque Ostpolitik...

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Not looking good. John [The Slog] in outstanding form on 'Germany and the Russian Debt Bomb'. THIS is Part 2. 

The 'appetiser': "you probably failed to notice this, but Russia paid its due debt installment in full last Friday. You probably didn’t see that, because the MSM blanked it." [sic]

The entrée: "In a nutshell, driving Russia into default risks a nuclear chain reaction that is impossible to predict….and anyone telling you otherwise (eg the Pentagon) is lying." 

The conclusion: "...there is one depressing certainty in 21st century life: our economic system, US democracy, EU fiscal stability, media investigation, bureaucratic rules, banking credibility, corporate governance, NATO information, health science, civil policing, military intelligence and financial sectors are all irreparably compromised by greed, mendacity and unachievable globalist megalomania." 

I am presuming too that you have all noticed that China, India (and very early on Pakistan, "so much excitement") and now the Emirates are all overtly not-quite-cosying-up to Russia but certainly not turning them away and making gains while the EU and the UK are failing and going backwards at every level, even propaganda. 

And off topic but really very much on topic, you know what hasn't gone away:

"The choice is ours. We can either go back to sleep and follow the shiny baubles of the latest breaking news on the MSM news feeds or we can continue to focus on the creation of the biosecurity state..."

Outing our overt overspending ocracy...

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Once again the Tax Payers' Alliance is doing a sterling service by highlighting the overt overspending of our Members of Parliament, those sent to represent the people, no really, stop sniggering at the back, that is what they are meant to do. 

This is not new, MPs and their hangers-on seem to be consumed with self-entitlement,  to claim back what most 'normal' people have to spend out of their own pockets (2nd mortgage, furniture, utility bills, TVs, donations to charities [i.e. poppies FFS!], and remember this has been going on for decades:  "ice cube tray, a fluffy duster, a toilet roll holder and tealights" [DT] and even porn!!!). What does your MP claim?  

The TPA have "revealed the average cost of an MP has increased by 29 per cent over the covid pandemic, from £157,747 in 2019-20 to £203,880 in 2020-21." 

Among the highlights is the astounding fact that the "average cost of an MP was £203,880". Remember this DOES NOT include their salary. [Full Report PDF] 

Britain’s most expensive MP was the member for Broxtowe, Darren Henry, with total spending of £280,936. Now, to not prejudge - oops too late - maybe he had set-up expenses, being a fairly new MP (2019) but Broxtowe is by Nottingham - not even half way up the country, and the M1 motorway runs through the constituency; it is between Derby and Nottingham mainline stations i.e. it is effing easy to get to London. In fact it is just a few stops up the same line as Kettering, the constituency of the least expensive MP, Philip Hollobone (£80,709. A full 200K less). Philip has CONSTANTLY been the lowest spender - or amongst the lowest - for as long as he has been an MP. 

Just as a reminder that MPs taking advantage of the pandemic and lockdown with a total spend of £132.5 million (up 4.6 per cent on previous years) is peanuts compared to - revealed last month - the [sadly unsurprising] news that there is " £17 billion estimated to be lost from unpaid business loans as any losses were guaranteed to be covered by taxpayers - that's 36 per cent of the entire scheme." [Bounce Back Loan Scheme PDF update].

Outing our overt overspending ocracy...

---

Once again the Tax Payers' Alliance is doing a sterling service by highlighting the overt overspending of our Members of Parliament, those sent to represent the people, no really, stop sniggering at the back, that is what they are meant to do. 

This is not new, MPs and their hangers-on seem to be consumed with self-entitlement,  to claim back what most 'normal' people have to spend out of their own pockets (2nd mortgage, furniture, utility bills, TVs, donations to charities [i.e. poppies FFS!], and remember this has been going on for decades:  "ice cube tray, a fluffy duster, a toilet roll holder and tealights" [DT] and even porn!!!). What does your MP claim?  

The TPA have "revealed the average cost of an MP has increased by 29 per cent over the covid pandemic, from £157,747 in 2019-20 to £203,880 in 2020-21." 

Among the highlights is the astounding fact that the "average cost of an MP was £203,880". Remember this DOES NOT include their salary. [Full Report PDF] 

Britain’s most expensive MP was the member for Broxtowe, Darren Henry, with total spending of £280,936. Now, to not prejudge - oops too late - maybe he had set-up expenses, being a fairly new MP (2019) but Broxtowe is by Nottingham - not even half way up the country, and the M1 motorway runs through the constituency; it is between Derby and Nottingham mainline stations i.e. it is effing easy to get to London. In fact it is just a few stops up the same line as Kettering, the constituency of the least expensive MP, Philip Hollobone (£80,709. A full 200K less). Philip has CONSTANTLY been the lowest spender - or amongst the lowest - for as long as he has been an MP. 

Just as a reminder that MPs taking advantage of the pandemic and lockdown with a total spend of £132.5 million (up 4.6 per cent on previous years) is peanuts compared to - revealed last month - the [sadly unsurprising] news that there is " £17 billion estimated to be lost from unpaid business loans as any losses were guaranteed to be covered by taxpayers - that's 36 per cent of the entire scheme." [Bounce Back Loan Scheme PDF update].

Obvious out-of overspend

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POTUS election 2020. "Fundraising by federal candidates: In previous presidential election cycles before the 2020 election, fundraising by Democrats and Republicans remained relatively even." From The Center for Responsive Politics (Open Secrets.org)

But the main image seen above - from the article - is only one of the amazing changes: look at the out-of-state donors to state-level candidates (donations of money coming in from a different state) and the Democrats have a 75% to 25% 'lead' (currently). This is clearly the ultra wealthy living in the Clinton Archipelago* trying to buy out the fly-over states/rust belt voters. I have personal anecdotes from colleagues and family in two of those states where the overt overspend was blatant and in both cases the Democrats still lost: they hadn't banked on an overwhelming turnout for Trump. Just as well then that the small donor portion of the overall also increased:

"Candidates for Congress and the presidency raised a combined $1.8 billion from small donors in the record-breaking 2020 election cycle. That's three times the 2016 total."

...with 45 percent of donations recieved for incumbent POTUS Donald Trump's coming from said voters giving USD200 of less. This is the best small-dollar showing for a Republican presidential candidate.  

In other snippets: [The Guardian] "That is, in a year when a black woman was on a major party ticket for the first time in US history, the margin between Democrats and Republicans among black women shifted 9 percentage points in the other direction – towards Trump."

Trump saw comparable gains with Black and Hispanic men as well. What changed in the racial and gender dynamics this cycle to produce these apparently extraordinary results? The truth is, absolutely nothing. These trends have been underway for the entirety of Trump’s public life.

Also, if Biden is actually certified - no, no, I mean the VOTE - it would mean that no fewer than ten bellwether counties lost their record: [including] Valencia County in NM and Vigo County IN, whose winning streaks go back to 1952 and 1956 respectively.

[added p.m.] Also, just looking at these totals provokes so many questions.

 * I looked back when I mentioned this in 2016 and was interested to see the date: that DJT had only recently been certified...3rd week of December 2016.

Update from 23rd Nov,  5 More Ways Joe Biden Magically Outperformed Election Norms

Obvious out-of overspend

---

POTUS election 2020. "Fundraising by federal candidates: In previous presidential election cycles before the 2020 election, fundraising by Democrats and Republicans remained relatively even." From The Center for Responsive Politics (Open Secrets.org)

But the main image seen above - from the article - is only one of the amazing changes: look at the out-of-state donors to state-level candidates (donations of money coming in from a different state) and the Democrats have a 75% to 25% 'lead' (currently). This is clearly the ultra wealthy living in the Clinton Archipelago* trying to buy out the fly-over states/rust belt voters. I have personal anecdotes from colleagues and family in two of those states where the overt overspend was blatant and in both cases the Democrats still lost: they hadn't banked on an overwhelming turnout for Trump. Just as well then that the small donor portion of the overall also increased:

"Candidates for Congress and the presidency raised a combined $1.8 billion from small donors in the record-breaking 2020 election cycle. That's three times the 2016 total."

...with 45 percent of donations recieved for incumbent POTUS Donald Trump's coming from said voters giving USD200 of less. This is the best small-dollar showing for a Republican presidential candidate.  

In other snippets: [The Guardian] "That is, in a year when a black woman was on a major party ticket for the first time in US history, the margin between Democrats and Republicans among black women shifted 9 percentage points in the other direction – towards Trump."

Trump saw comparable gains with Black and Hispanic men as well. What changed in the racial and gender dynamics this cycle to produce these apparently extraordinary results? The truth is, absolutely nothing. These trends have been underway for the entirety of Trump’s public life.

Also, if Biden is actually certified - no, no, I mean the VOTE - it would mean that no fewer than ten bellwether counties lost their record: [including] Valencia County in NM and Vigo County IN, whose winning streaks go back to 1952 and 1956 respectively.

[added p.m.] Also, just looking at these totals provokes so many questions.

 * I looked back when I mentioned this in 2016 and was interested to see the date: that DJT had only recently been certified...3rd week of December 2016.

Update from 23rd Nov,  5 More Ways Joe Biden Magically Outperformed Election Norms

Oracle of Omaha options...

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I haven't mentioned the Oracle of Omaha for almost 14 years; Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett said [edit: he said yesterday] "that the conglomerate has sold the entirety of its position in the U.S. airline industry." This bodes badly for all airlines. From CNBC, "I think there are certain industries, and unfortunately, I think that the airline industry, among others, that are really hurt by a forced shutdown by events that are far beyond our control,"



No kidding. Warren Buffett in March: "I won’t be selling airline stocks"... 50 days is a long time. To put that in perespective, last December BH Inc owned a 10% stake in American Airlines, 9.2% of Delta shares, 10.1% of Southwest Airlines shares and 7.6% of United. Needless to say the COVID-19 pandemic is the airline industry's worst-ever crisis, them and a few others!

Oracle of Omaha options...

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I haven't mentioned the Oracle of Omaha for almost 14 years; Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett said [edit: he said yesterday] "that the conglomerate has sold the entirety of its position in the U.S. airline industry." This bodes badly for all airlines. From CNBC, "I think there are certain industries, and unfortunately, I think that the airline industry, among others, that are really hurt by a forced shutdown by events that are far beyond our control,"

No kidding. Warren Buffett in March: "I won’t be selling airline stocks"... 50 days is a long time. To put that in perespective, last December BH Inc owned a 10% stake in American Airlines, 9.2% of Delta shares, 10.1% of Southwest Airlines shares and 7.6% of United. Needless to say the COVID-19 pandemic is the airline industry's worst-ever crisis, them and a few others!

Open on oeuvres...

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Library closed? Local youth club shut down? No money for bin collections because of "austerity"? After the last recession we found out that many councils had hundreds of millions of savings stashed away. Now, just to confirm something else we presumed but didn't know: Wasting Monet? (TaxPayer's Alliance) "Local authorities own a significant amount of artwork. Museums, galleries and libraries are part of the public sector and often under the remit of their local authority. Some authorities’ pieces of art are of significant value." [PDF]



Local authorities in the UK own at about two million pieces of art, which is worth nearly £1.9 billion.



Middlesbrough council had the most with more than 250,000 items. They didn't reveal how much it was worth. Of those that did, Manchester city council had the highest value, just over £369 million. Bassetlaw council had the most recent purchases: 201 and Wiltshire council had the least on display: zero percent from 2099 items (one of eight councils with nothing on display).

Open on oeuvres...

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Library closed? Local youth club shut down? No money for bin collections because of "austerity"? After the last recession we found out that many councils had hundreds of millions of savings stashed away. Now, just to confirm something else we presumed but didn't know: Wasting Monet? (TaxPayer's Alliance) "Local authorities own a significant amount of artwork. Museums, galleries and libraries are part of the public sector and often under the remit of their local authority. Some authorities’ pieces of art are of significant value." [PDF]

Local authorities in the UK own at about two million pieces of art, which is worth nearly £1.9 billion.

Middlesbrough council had the most with more than 250,000 items. They didn't reveal how much it was worth. Of those that did, Manchester city council had the highest value, just over £369 million. Bassetlaw council had the most recent purchases: 201 and Wiltshire council had the least on display: zero percent from 2099 items (one of eight councils with nothing on display).

Oakus opportunities...

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...of the US Oak! :-)



Interesting chart on the Visual Capitalist of milestones for US companies, prompted by Apple's recent trillion USD market valuation, "through a period of over 200 years of U.S. market history. It was inspired by this interesting post by Global Financial Data, which is worth reading in its own right."



Interesting indeed, for example, there I learnt that before 1900, the London & Northwestern Railway was the largest railroad and the largest company in the world (before that the Bank of England held the honour).



The Visual Capitalist post also mentions that Apple is not in fact the first company globally to ever hit the one trillion USD landmark: the "feat was achieved momentarily by PetroChina in 2007, after a successful debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange that same year." Momentarily because after the one-day tripling of stock value it subsequently collapsed by nearly 80%.



What I find more interesting is the drop by more than a third in the number of companies: from 7912 in 1995 down to 5186 this year. In fact the total number of companies peaked at 9,850 in 1999;  so a drop of very nearly 50% in the first 18 years of this century.

Oakus opportunities...

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...of the US Oak! :-)

Interesting chart on the Visual Capitalist of milestones for US companies, prompted by Apple's recent trillion USD market valuation, "through a period of over 200 years of U.S. market history. It was inspired by this interesting post by Global Financial Data, which is worth reading in its own right."

Interesting indeed, for example, there I learnt that before 1900, the London & Northwestern Railway was the largest railroad and the largest company in the world (before that the Bank of England held the honour).

The Visual Capitalist post also mentions that Apple is not in fact the first company globally to ever hit the one trillion USD landmark: the "feat was achieved momentarily by PetroChina in 2007, after a successful debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange that same year." Momentarily because after the one-day tripling of stock value it subsequently collapsed by nearly 80%.

What I find more interesting is the drop by more than a third in the number of companies: from 7912 in 1995 down to 5186 this year. In fact the total number of companies peaked at 9,850 in 1999;  so a drop of very nearly 50% in the first 18 years of this century.

Orinoco overflow...

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Looking at the IMF inflation figures and the CPI (the Consumer Price Index measures changes in the price level of  "a typical basket of consumer goods and services" etc purchased by households; the rate of inflation is the rate of change of the average CPI) and the map (left) indicating those levels. Venezuela and a handful of central African nations are "25% or more"; OK doesn't sound too bad does it?  However, there's a few more zeros on Venezuela's, HERE. Gross domestic product per capita is falling like a stone and even HALVED between last year and this.



A good overview of the whole Venezuelan crisis is HERE, although only updated to March this year so nothing about the recent sham elections. "The humanitarian crisis has spilled across Venezuela’s borders, with as many as five hundred thousand fleeing in the past two years. Many have crossed into neighboring Colombia and Brazil, while others have left by boat to the nearby island of Curacao." I can tell you many thousands are also in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador Mexico etc. Several holes in heads needed smartish.



There's also THIS , 'How Chavez and Maduro have impoverished Venezuela', "And it is always the people that suffer most."



The real shame here is not the that it can't be changed but that it will take at least a generation to get over this period. Take out the trash tomorrow and change the whole governing structure including all the higher ranks of all the forces and it would take 50 years to heal the wounds of 'el pueblo': it is deep, the splits and resentments and hate between members of the same families; the scummy thieving armed shits that ruin everyone's' lives; the Cuban poison orchestrating from the shadows, the sin cojones policia, guardia and armed forces that years ago should and could have stopped the rot.



[edited 30/05]

Owsblog Venezuela

Orinoco overflow...

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Looking at the IMF inflation figures and the CPI (the Consumer Price Index measures changes in the price level of  "a typical basket of consumer goods and services" etc purchased by households; the rate of inflation is the rate of change of the average CPI) and the map (left) indicating those levels. Venezuela and a handful of central African nations are "25% or more"; OK doesn't sound too bad does it?  However, there's a few more zeros on Venezuela's, HERE. Gross domestic product per capita is falling like a stone and even HALVED between last year and this.

A good overview of the whole Venezuelan crisis is HERE, although only updated to March this year so nothing about the recent sham elections. "The humanitarian crisis has spilled across Venezuela’s borders, with as many as five hundred thousand fleeing in the past two years. Many have crossed into neighboring Colombia and Brazil, while others have left by boat to the nearby island of Curacao." I can tell you many thousands are also in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador Mexico etc. Several holes in heads needed smartish.

There's also THIS , 'How Chavez and Maduro have impoverished Venezuela', "And it is always the people that suffer most."

The real shame here is not the that it can't be changed but that it will take at least a generation to get over this period. Take out the trash tomorrow and change the whole governing structure including all the higher ranks of all the forces and it would take 50 years to heal the wounds of 'el pueblo': it is deep, the splits and resentments and hate between members of the same families; the scummy thieving armed shits that ruin everyone's' lives; the Cuban poison orchestrating from the shadows, the sin cojones policia, guardia and armed forces that years ago should and could have stopped the rot.

[edited 30/05]
Owsblog Venezuela

Outstanding Osborne...

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It looks a bit blurred; click to enlarge for clearer view...

Britain is now running a current budget surplus. OK, I know it wasn't all George Osborne but credit where it is due. An outstanding achievement, albeit slightly later than originally forecast. And guess what, the BBC are actually reporting it, although not on their Home Page, nor main News page and already a long way down the list on the UK Politics page. And, as it is the BBC, with the twist of the knife in the headline link "Cameron and Osborne hail austerity plan" giving it the 'evil' look that allows Labour fools in with such ridiculous comments: "Labour accused them of 'egotistical boasting' while families suffered." FFS, can't think why cuts in spending were necessary, can you, Labour Party? And the plan was NEVER 'austerity' anyway, merely cutting back gross excess and trimming. And when they claim local authorities are closing libraries due to nasty Tory austerity cuts ask them why the same Councils have gambled with public money (hundreds of millions in savings in Icelandic banks revealed after the crash, by 2014 they had most back) and are currently spending hundreds of millions on "punting like drunken sailors" on "hedge fund-style activity". [2017 FT, requires registration]

Anyway, [edited] research published by the International Monetary Fund "Climbing Out of Debt, A new study offers more evidence that cutting spending is less harmful to growth than raising taxes" [LINK] [PDF] said Britain set an example for other countries to follow in slashing the deficit by cutting public spending, rather than raising taxes. [DT] "Our conclusion runs against the basic Keynesian message, which implies that spending cuts are more recessionary than tax increases"... "On the contrary, our study confirms that expenditure-based plans generally were less harmful to growth than tax-based plans.".



Well done David Cameron, well done George Osborne and team. Well done the Conservative Party.



Despite Brexit :-)

Outstanding Osborne...

---

It looks a bit blurred; click to enlarge for clearer view...

Britain is now running a current budget surplus. OK, I know it wasn't all George Osborne but credit where it is due. An outstanding achievement, albeit slightly later than originally forecast. And guess what, the BBC are actually reporting it, although not on their Home Page, nor main News page and already a long way down the list on the UK Politics page. And, as it is the BBC, with the twist of the knife in the headline link "Cameron and Osborne hail austerity plan" giving it the 'evil' look that allows Labour fools in with such ridiculous comments: "Labour accused them of 'egotistical boasting' while families suffered." FFS, can't think why cuts in spending were necessary, can you, Labour Party? And the plan was NEVER 'austerity' anyway, merely cutting back gross excess and trimming. And when they claim local authorities are closing libraries due to nasty Tory austerity cuts ask them why the same Councils have gambled with public money (hundreds of millions in savings in Icelandic banks revealed after the crash, by 2014 they had most back) and are currently spending hundreds of millions on "punting like drunken sailors" on "hedge fund-style activity". [2017 FT, requires registration]

Anyway, [edited] research published by the International Monetary Fund "Climbing Out of Debt, A new study offers more evidence that cutting spending is less harmful to growth than raising taxes" [LINK] [PDF] said Britain set an example for other countries to follow in slashing the deficit by cutting public spending, rather than raising taxes. [DT] "Our conclusion runs against the basic Keynesian message, which implies that spending cuts are more recessionary than tax increases"... "On the contrary, our study confirms that expenditure-based plans generally were less harmful to growth than tax-based plans.".

Well done David Cameron, well done George Osborne and team. Well done the Conservative Party.

Despite Brexit :-)

Ostensible oligarchic overlords...

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"With each passing day I grow happier and happier that I voted for Brexit." Me too. "Ireland, the EU is playing you like a fiddle", so writes Brendan O'Neill in today's (yesterday's on UK time) Spectator. He is so, so right. The EU is being true to form: "cynical, divisive and dangerous"; I would add sinister, single-minded and cuntish. The Irish are being soft but trying to find some way of buffering the fact that, as of 2016, actually have to contribute to the EU coffers, instead of being a net recipient for the previous forty odd years; I guess that is easy to understand.

All that was exacerbated today with a plethora of fake news. She said, he said they said...all without any quotes at all, just hear-say about what would happen re the Irish border. A whole day of complete made-up shit. Instant access 24 hour round the clock ticker-tape news is getting worse. The tail is now wagging several dogs! Just wait for the news then give the facts please. Also, you. utter. twats. (apologies for so many Twatter links).



Update: double twat khant!