UK heads for a double "dip"

[BlasterBates]

Britain 'on the edge of a double dip recession' - Telegraph

...no probs just need to invest billions in green technologies to kick start it.

[Paddy]

Britain 'on the edge of a double dip recession' - Telegraph

...no probs just need to invest billions in green technologies to kick start it.

Paddy is currently making arrangements to retire abroad.

[AtW]

It's not double dip since last Q was not negative, the Telegraph is just trying to make out a scary story out of disappointment there is no double dip (yet).

Now the way oil prices and other commodities go we'll have one very soon!

[SimonMac]

Paddy is currently making arrangements to retire abroad.

Those who refer to themselves in the third person should fook off abroad now!

[DimPrawn]

Those who refer to themselves in the third person should fook off abroad now!

DimPrawn agrees.

[Paddy]

Those who refer to themselves in the third person should fook off abroad now!

But Paddy is a sockie

[Doggy Styles]

No surprise that growth is sluggish. The economy is in a terrible state and you can't turn it around in a year or two.

It will take even longer because manufacturing is not benefiting from the weaker pound yet, and that's because there isn't a lot of manufacturing capacity left.

(And before anyone says that was down to Thatcher, manufacturing was 26% of GDP when she got in, 22% when the tories were finally kicked out, but only 12% when they got back in.)

That is why the government has got to encourage manufacturing - reducing red tape and over-the-top uncompetitive employment legislation would be a big step.

[SimonMac]

DimPrawn agrees.

SimonMac Likes This Post :thumbs:

[Paddy]

No surprise that growth is sluggish. The economy is in a terrible state and you can't turn it around in a year or two.

It will take even longer because manufacturing is not benefiting from the weaker pound yet, and that's because there isn't a lot of manufacturing capacity left.

(And before anyone says that was down to Thatcher, manufacturing was 26% of GDP when she got in, 22% when the tories were finally kicked out, but only 12% when they got back in.)

That is why the government has got to encourage manufacturing - reducing red tape and over-the-top uncompetitive employment legislation would be a big step.

Totally agree with you and I would like to add that the current UK economy is based on the public sector. Ie., Paying high taxes to keep jobs worth civil servants in employment and paying for public sector pensions.

[doodab]

The UK economy is shafted because of the uncompetitive workforce. This isn't solely down to red tape, it has more to do with the relatively low level of education and high cost of living (which leads to high wages) which makes British workers poor value.

The biggest obstacle to doing something about it, IMO, is the anti intellectual attitude of a large proportion of the population. We have millions of thick people who are in fact so thick that they are unable even to imagine that not everyone is as thick as them.

I agree red tape is a problem for the manufacturing industry, getting anything made in modern Britain is a major undertaking. It is generally cheaper and simpler to outsource the work to e.g. China, Ireland, Portugal or elsewhere in the EU. I would also argue that if we had less thickos who needed saving from their own stupidity a lot of the red tape would be unnecessary.