Swerv-o

When I initially read this, I assumed it was people who went around to wealthy people's houses and made their beds after they had been sleeping in them


S

GarryP

That's a pretty strange argument to make.

The wealthy are the ones outsourcing jobs to SE asia and putting tens of thousands of UK people on the scrap heap ...... but you think we should be grateful to them because they keep a handful of bespoke bedmakers in business doing custom work for them?

The reason they can afford bespoke beds is because others can't.

Not sure exactly which side you are arguing for here. It's almost a sarcastic expose of how broken the 'trickle down' idea was.

Amazulu

Unions are a big problem that's for sure but companies that do deals with them in order to keep the peace are just as bad and drive up the cost of construction/manufacture

Example:
2 identical apartment complexes being built in Melbourne, one across the road from the other. The one built by a company with no CFMEU input (say Grocon) costs $100m. The one across the road that is run by the CFMEU and the business that is its bitch, $130m. Reality of construction in parts of Australia today but why? HSE? Not likely as Australia has stringent federal and state HSE legislation that has onerous consequences for non-compliance. Workers rights? Again, Australia has rigid IR laws that put the rights over workers over those of businesses and destroys employment. Productivity? The non-union worksite probably has better productivity

Basically the union-controlled construction costs 30% more because the CFMEU says it should and its bitch company goes along with this in order to get the job done and still make a fat profit. The losers are the customer and often the taxpayer, but in this scenario do not come into the union/business equation

It's a mess

Beoz

Lets ban the import of beds shall we, so wealthy people can't make them cheaper elsewhere. You might well end up sleeping on the floor. Perhaps you should be grateful most manufacturing is offshore. You pay less for what you buy.

The point of the bed story is, a manufacturer can still be profitable in the UK as long as their products are of high quality and selling to the right market.

Beoz

Things are getting interesting.

Deutsche Bank bailout? German government denies rescue plan

GarryP

I thought this graph was the most illuminating. Exactly why you don't want to let the banks do their own thing, and why the market doesn't work.



If that goes bad, it goes REAL bad.

Beoz

Many countries have leavers against that type of thing. What happen to Germany?

astera

I think it's more to do with inequality before the law than with wealth itself. Just to illustrate, politicians who use IHT like a hammer on the general public... and then wiggle out of it themselves like Milibrain and many others.

Personally I think that IHT is completely wrong, like being tax all over again simply because someone dies.

And laws seems to cut into people's freedoms, like not being able to give your property away and for the new owner being able to do whatever they want with it: for example parents handing over a property to their kids and then living in it for free. The gov't says that you need to charge them rent or they'll treat the handover as non-existent, something which is ridiculous as you should be able to do WHATEVER you want with that property, including letting others live in it for free (especially family).

ozzieeagle

Something came up re the UKIP on my facebook feed and I honestly was shocked at the vitriol and seemingly divide there is in some quarters in the UK.... That really is civil unrest stuff.



I've not heard British people talk like that before and there were 100's of erm. Shame and real anger wow !!!

I must check out a Pauline Hanson feed and see how similar it is.... not that I want to read stuff like that.

Beoz

Inheritance tax is a con. Of course the lefties will be all over it because their narrow little minds means tax the rich as hard as you can, but what about those who aren't rich. What about farmers, those who have land, may have had it for 50 years, worked their socks off on it just to make a living, then you die and because the government want 50% of that. The children have no choice but to sell up, because they can't find a way of paying Inheritance tax without selling.

Its such a sad situation.

scrubbedexpat098

Now I'm no financial genius, in fact I'm more of a spanner wielding monkey boy, but this weak pound bollocks. Apparently, it's good for the UK manufacturing industry, but makes imports more expansive.

Why then, would the country not see this as an opportunity to manufacture what was previously imported, rather than whingeing about how expensive imports were becoming?

Wankers

bcworld

Well quite possibly those UK manufactured things would still be substantially more expensive than the imported version. Even after the imports have gotten more expensive.

scrubbedexpat098

Quite possibly they wouldn't, but the modern mentality is out sourcing and blaming everyone else for your problems. Time the UK took its future by the scruff of the neck and stop crying about everything.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the willingness of many remain voters to let it all turn to shit just so they can stand back and say 'well I voted remain, told you this would happen' outweighs their ability to adapt to the situation they find themselves in. It's time for the UK to man up and show whaty it's made of.

Beoz

That's the thing isn't it. The UK will just get on with it and make the most of the situation. If the UK was going to screwed, then foreign property investors would not be diving into property just because its cheap. They are expecting growth and they will most likely get it and are demonstrating the UK isn't screwed after all.

bcworld

If that's your agenda then fair enough...but it doesn't really have anything to do with the discussion about the cost of imports vs local manufacturing. I'd be pretty confident in betting that the majority of leave voters would also be unwilling or unable to absorb the cost of everything being manufactured locally. It's a nice idea but completely ignores the realities of global trade and economics.