Originally Posted by notacontrathinker (Post 10782739)

Ah ! Were it only so Dick.

However you have to spend money on other things, like changing little old ladies butano bottles(mentioned on this thread), and helping the unemployed, the sick, and the defenceless.

You have to strike a balance between capital spending (building the AVE) and current spending (helping people).

You can't have one without the other, but where that balance lies ? Well that is what politics is all about.

Valid point, Dick.

Originally Posted by Dick Dasterdly (Post 10782941)

Now now notacon, you're beginning to sound like a real con. :)

I mean whats else is the Govt meant to do with all these extra billions of taxes they take in from covering the whole of the land with unused railroads, surely not stuff it all in private Swiss bank accounts,.... I'd never believe that for a single moment ?

Here's me thinking you have the magic answer to everything.

According to your line of thinking, surely the Govt. will now have shedloads of tax income to not only take care of all the little old ladies and the sick, but also to provide for their every need with a whole army of nurses, servants and helpers, thereby also solving the countries jobless problems in one fell swoop.

Now whatever can be wrong with that ? :unsure:

Originally Posted by notacontrathinker (Post 10782978)

I'll go through it again for you as you are a good mate.

The billions in taxes taken in the building of the project are used to repay the money borrowed to start the project in the first place, or, the billions generated this year can go to finance next years building.

You really must stop calling bits of complex economic theory that you don't understand as a 'real con'.

Originally Posted by notacontrathinker (Post 10782978)

I'll go through it again for you as you are a good mate.

The billions in taxes taken in the building of the project are used to repay the money borrowed to start the project in the first place, or, the billions generated this year can go to finance next years building.

You really must stop calling bits of complex economic theory that you don't understand as a 'real con'.

Originally Posted by Domino (Post 10784087)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-8685062.html

Mandelson urges UK govt to abandon HS2 as it will be an expensive mistake.

Originally Posted by Domino (Post 10784087)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-8685062.html

Mandelson urges UK govt to abandon HS2 as it will be an expensive mistake.

Originally Posted by notacontrathinker (Post 10782580)

I think that 'most Spanish' have a secret or not so secret pride in the project. Didn't you have pride in the ruinously expensive Concorde and the Olympic Games ?

People keep on saying that the money is “wasted”, “poured into a black hole” or “down the plug-hole”. But the money doesn’t just vanish into thin air (obviously it being Spain, some of it does).

Have you ever sat down and worked out where it actually goes ?

First off the Government pays a firm to, say, build the AVE lines. The firm will make a profit on the deal and it will pay corporation tax to the taxman. The owners of the firm will also get dividends from the project and they will pay income tax on it (to the taxman). The rest of the money will be spent getting the thing done.

The contractor will pay a lot of people to move the scenery out of the way of the AVE and will pay them for doing so. The employees will take the money and will pay income tax and some form of NI to the tax man. They will then spend that money in shops and pay VAT. The shopkeepers will pay themselves and pay income tax and NI and VAT (to the taxman) when they spend the money.

The firm will also buy rails from the steel plants who will pay their workers and suppliers for coal and iron ore, etc, etc, etc, and it’s all subject to tax.

So you see, all the money the government spends, sloshes around in peoples’ bank accounts, and every time it changes bank account, the Spanish Chancellor dips his bread.

And if you add up all the tax on all the transactions of all the money the government has spent, you find that the government gets nearly all of it back, or at the very least they get a very, very cheap train set.

On top of all that, comes the savings from not having to pay out unemployment benefit for all the workers in the chain.

The main trick though, is to get all the tax back. This is done particularly well in Britain, so much so, it is thought, that George Osbourne, having got so much more back from the 6.8 billion than he ploughed into the Olympic Games, is desperately seeking ways of having the Olympics in London EVERY year.

Originally Posted by notacontrathinker (Post 10782580)

I think that 'most Spanish' have a secret or not so secret pride in the project. Didn't you have pride in the ruinously expensive Concorde and the Olympic Games ?

.

Originally Posted by me me (Post 10784211)

I know that most Spanish don´t give a monkeys about the rail link.

Go to any bar, any house and IF the subject does come up, (which is not that common BTW) it is usually in the negative way, ie what a waste.

Originally Posted by cricketman (Post 10784223)

Not in my circles me me. Everyone I've spoken to loves the AVE and can't wait for it to get to Asturias

We have to remember that working class Spaniards will probably never use the AVE, but it solves a host of middle class problems

Originally Posted by jennieJ (Post 10784226)

Apologies for off topic but

Lol you are so up yourself it is unbelievable. :rofl:

Originally Posted by me me (Post 10784234)

What can one say.:rofl:

Originally Posted by me me (Post 10784234)

What can one say.:rofl:

Originally Posted by cricketman (Post 10784223)

Not in my circles me me. Everyone I've spoken to loves the AVE and can't wait for it to get to Asturias

We have to remember that working class Spaniards will probably never use the AVE, but it solves a host of middle class problems