Recessions over

good points made by Mr Devs as usual, yes we are the most lucky of all humans to have lived in this era, behind us hard times,in front of us overcrowding or war, war seems the only solution to overcrowding so its gonna be one or the other,
but like you I too am as happy as a pig in muck and i'm wondering what it would be like to roll out of the muck and have a bit of the countries not too well shared out wealth to roll in

 

Yep, it sticks in my craw to read about things like the new Odeon.

Cinema? Nope - it's a new tower in Monaco, I think.

Top penthouse flat is a mere £260M. Every decadent thing you can think off - to a bedroom the size of 2 tennis courts, to shark-skin coverings on the fittings. The 'estate agent' was getting tired of viewers coming in to see properties and sniffing - "Ok, you've showed me the millionaire's pads - now show me the billionaire's..."

Closer to home - how many of the cabinet are millionaires? How many 'deserve' to be? I mean, are they really brilliant business people as well? Have they earned it?! I doubt it - more like it's who you know.

Who can afford a £260M home? Probably only Russian oligarchs. How did they make their money? By buying up as many shares of the Russian industries as they could when Gorbie/Yeltsin broke up the communist system and gave every one shares in the country. Problem was, many were starving so sold their shares to feed their families, and these were bought by a few who had money - and you can bet they weren't earned in a nice way... These relatively few individuals then boosted their earnings by killing off (yep, often by literally killing off...) the competition. There are very, very few nice oligarchs...

But, hey, what can we do? Next to b-all. So don't fret - enjoy life. These people might be enjoying the trappings of wealth, but I doubt they enjoy 'life' very much.

 

maybe we should offer them a chance to come down and enjoy life in toms greenhouse for a fortnights holiday, show them what they're missing

 

Well said DA. Sensible people know that tax pays for the 21st century services that we enjoy and don't mind paying for them, but what annoys people is that politicians waste so much of tax revenue on things like generous benefits for the workshy, overseas aid that goes to corrupt governments, badly planned projects, quangos, green subsidies etc. If tax was simplified there would be no place for smart alec tax accountants, we'd need fewer tax inspectors because simple tax is harder to fiddle and if waste was cut out too we'd all have more money to spend out of our wages.

 

There is some truth in what you say, Harry, and any unfairness - or which there is plenty - is hard to take.

But...

How much money do we actually waste on 'generous benefits for the workshy'? Give me a %-age of our overall benefits bill, please.

Please also provide a short essay on 'the pros and cons of overseas aid', and present a balanced argument.

Badly planned projects - sack the b'rds and prevent them from having any project-managing jobs for ever more.

Quagos. Are they all bad? One more balanced report on my desk for tomorrow morning, please.

Green subsidies? They are BRILLIANT...


But, yes, I agree wholeheartedly - tax should be simple and with zero loopholes. (Easier said than done, tho'.)