RE: The emperor's clothes14 Sep 2024 09:07
Very interesting concept there, Mr Upham - I would question whether there are many worse off countries in the world than the UK. And I include even (especially?) the poorest African nations in that, and the reason is that the UK attracts all these low end immigrants who are a massive drain on the rest of society, and manages to keep this juggling act going by selling gilts in order to fund this, and institutions (mostly the UK citizens' own pension funds) are willing to lend because there is this ridiculous belief that the UK is a "wealthy nation" and so can repay (and historically always has repaid) its debts. Therefore, the impoverished African countries who cannot borrow will actually be in a much better position than the UK once the music stops! (The UK is a bit like a high earning Dr who's never bought a property but has a huge income, spends it on renting a luxury flat, living the high life, dining daily in the best restaurants, and actually spends much more than he earns, financed by credit card debt and personal loans, and in the process acquires absolutely no assets of value; and the African countries are the blue collar workers who live hand to mouth, eat rice and beans, but don't acquire assets beyond their old clunker of a car and perhaps a tiny terraced house in the most run down area of town - when both guys get laid off, I know whose bills I'd rather be responsible for paying.) To cut a long story short, our historical success has allowed us to borrow enough rope to hang ourselves (several times over.) Anyhow, I'm off to a co-worker's wedding in a moment, with a long drive to get there, so will sign off and wish the two and four legged inhabitants of Buckfastleigh Towers a restful and recouperative weekend.