Damned if you do, damned if you don't

[Tarquin Farquhar]

Telegraph, Families make biggest savings ever

The news marks a stark contrast from early 2008 when statistics showed that, for the first time, British families were having to borrow in order to fund their everyday lives – something which contributed to the subsequent recession.

However, economists said that the consequence of families saving more is that it would constrain high street sales and could help prolong the economic downturn.

(emphasis mine) How does that work? Borrowing contributes to the recession, saving prolongs it? What to do?

[Fred Bloggs]

I was very disappointed at the DT printing that, front page too. FFS, it was borrowing way too much and producing way too little that got us into this sh!te state in the first place.

[DiscoStu]

Telegraph, Families make biggest savings ever

(emphasis mine) How does that work? Borrowing contributes to the recession, saving prolongs it? What to do?

Emigrate.

[Doggy Styles]

"The news marks a stark contrast from early 2008 when statistics showed that, for the first time, British families were having to borrow in order to fund their everyday lives – something which contributed to the subsequent recession.

However, economists said that the consequence of families saving more is that it would constrain high street sales and could help prolong the economic downturn."

(emphasis mine) How does that work? Borrowing contributes to the recession, saving prolongs it? What to do?

Imagine chopping all the trees down in your garden to burn and heat your house. When you run out of trees, you have nothing left to burn. The house cools down.

Next door don't cut any of their trees down, they are all still standing there, growing bigger. The house doesn't warm up.

What to do? I suppose the message is for people to do something in the middle. Warm the house up, but only enough to be comfortable. A furkin great roaring fire 24/7 is unnecessary.

Chavs with 52-inch flatscreens, holidays in the West Indies and new Ford Focuses (Focii?) mostly on credit take note.

[Moscow Mule]

(emphasis mine) How does that work? Borrowing contributes to the recession, saving prolongs it? What to do?

Ask the Japanese...

[xoggoth]

Time we got back to the fundamental relationships. Consumption cannot exceed production. We need a world based on effort put in=reward gained and the natural human instinct of protecting our own.

Killing all socialists would sort most of our problems.

PS Steal the neighbour's trees probably.

[shaunbhoy]

Killing all socialists would sort most of our problems.

Yes but can you burn them as fuel??

[Moscow Mule]

Yes but can you burn them as fuel??

If you dry them out first.

[Doggy Styles]

PS Steal the neighbour's trees probably.

But applied to the real-world credit crunch, that means using your neighbour's taxes to bail out your fliplessness.

That's ridiculous, it would never be allowed.

[threaded]

Check what sort of trees they are first.

A guy I know chopped down some chestnut and cedar trees, let them dry, chopped them into lovely logs for his open fire and...

fumigated his house...