tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post5225952170454947874..comments2023-12-09T07:21:51.160+00:00Comments on The Druid: Fighting for Anglesey: Quick thoughts on the Emergency BudgetPaul Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01021606156107333019noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-14932271813512820692010-06-24T22:06:47.872+01:002010-06-24T22:06:47.872+01:00Increase the pension age to 70 that will stop the ...Increase the pension age to 70 that will stop the spongers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-39403580423290075962010-06-24T20:46:50.221+01:002010-06-24T20:46:50.221+01:00Emergency Budget.
It doesn't matter what we t...Emergency Budget.<br /><br />It doesn't matter what we think, we can all agree that over the years we have WASTED our reources, our collective scource of Wealth has nearly all dried up, Scotland is defending it's right to hold on to this Wealth, by defending and protecting it from the wasters in London, let's hope they are not too late, Scotland has seen with their own eyes, the way this wealth has been squandered, now we are all having to pay the price for the wasteful greedy years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-91680559605931928262010-06-24T18:17:38.315+01:002010-06-24T18:17:38.315+01:00can i refer you back to my comment of about a mont...can i refer you back to my comment of about a month ago - re indepedence for Anglesey<br />Wlesh independence is a strange concept to me - as pointed out in this post but i have to question - i dont have the figures but can wales actually support it's self - i think there is a great paralell between this in Wales and the British economy as a whole<br />I read somewhere that only 2% of the population is involved in agriculture - so why is it my straw polls still tell me everyone sees wales as a farming nation?<br />I was listening to BBC Radio the other day heard two points of interest - <br />1) by a civil servant that worked for the tax office who was pointing out how much tax is written off by her office - her point was that the revenue not being collected is substantial<br />2) the second point was made by a gent who basically squeezed it in at the end - his statement was that the top 100 earners in UK has increased their income by half the national debt in the last 12 months - i wont expand on this but i am sure the point is obviousDahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11918094136055882694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-8238911040782329492010-06-24T16:44:07.998+01:002010-06-24T16:44:07.998+01:00"not everyone can be relatively wealthy or co..."not everyone can be relatively wealthy or comfortable like us."<br /><br />Indeed. We take from everyone and give little back. <br /><br />Few would want to even think about it, let alone do it, but I suspect that people could live with an awful lot less and actually experience greater happiness; this is the teaching of all the great world religious leaders.The Great Councillininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-61474595477125398652010-06-24T10:30:54.347+01:002010-06-24T10:30:54.347+01:00I agree with the Great Councillini, we in the deve...I agree with the Great Councillini, we in the developed world are the lucky once, for us this is our golden age, things may improve slightly again, but not by much. As the natural resources we rely on for much of what we do diminish the tension between states will increase.<br /><br />In the meantime billions of people live in fear and hunger, exploited daily they are sold a dream they cannot achieve, because not everyone can be relatively wealthy or comfortable like us.stats mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-32296026148244625942010-06-24T07:33:14.202+01:002010-06-24T07:33:14.202+01:00"Is there a single country in Western Europe ..."Is there a single country in Western Europe - or even further afield - which is able to rely on its non-oil or gas related natural resources in order to balance the Government's books? No, thought not."<br /><br /><br />Yes, there are plenty of countries that rely on mineral resources alone. But that misses an important point: all the things that these economies rely upon are finite in nature; most are already on the way out. What will countries rely upon then? It's not an academic question, it's a very real one, and I think tends to point to the dead-end nature of the free market system and the aim for perpetual growth; it's clearly a flawed system.The Great Councillininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-474427790014392622010-06-23T21:33:26.765+01:002010-06-23T21:33:26.765+01:00Ramblings
"It might not be true if Wales had...Ramblings<br /><br />"It might not be true if Wales had control over all of its own resources. In fact i'd wager it almost certainly wouldn't be true if that became the case."<br /><br />- I often hear this and I'm afraid that it sounds too much like wishful thinking. Is there a single country in Western Europe - or even further afield - which is able to rely on its non-oil or gas related natural resources in order to balance the Government's books? No, thought not.<br /><br />"I'd be interested to know whether New Labour's borrowing between 97-07 was any bigger than comparable economies in Western Europe."<br /><br />- Why would that make any difference? The Government is not forced to borrow money - it is a choice. Whether other countries borrowed more or less is completely irrelevant.Paul Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01021606156107333019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-6458500540909000262010-06-23T19:51:16.412+01:002010-06-23T19:51:16.412+01:00I think we all owe a great debt of gratitude to th...I think we all owe a great debt of gratitude to this family, especially Dr Hugh Owen Thomas (who is known the farther of modern orthopaedic surgery in Britain). When he died at an early age of 59 there was much grief in Liverpool.<br /><br />And considering how it began, it begs one to think what we would have made of it today?stats mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-57853741326599735232010-06-23T18:57:07.902+01:002010-06-23T18:57:07.902+01:00"we are really all European, why we do not ac..."we are really all European, why we do not acknowledge this I am not sure ?"<br /><br />Very wise words. The answer? Lord knows - a complex issue. I'm trying to highlight this kind of thing in my project to examine the geographical origins of the Anglesey bone setters, said to start with a 1743 shipwreck survivor subsequently named Evan Thomas. <br /><br />You can read about it on this basic but developing web site:<br /><br />www.angleseybonesetters.co.ukDi En Eynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-60998635510930973852010-06-23T17:54:14.533+01:002010-06-23T17:54:14.533+01:00I'm always slightly baffled as to why an indep...I'm always slightly baffled as to why an independent Wales is considered so unacceptable by some people. When you look at what economic benefits the last several hundred years of English rule from London have brought Wales - that's nothing, btw - then it's difficult to see how we could make things any worse by running our own affairs. A Welsh Parliament with some radical economic policies would be very interesting.DDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13376731039541268993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-86087082023620102262010-06-23T16:13:12.502+01:002010-06-23T16:13:12.502+01:00There was a time when there was no England or Wale...There was a time when there was no England or Wales - Alfred the Great is said to be the first King of England just over a thousand years ago. Before that the rulers where all immigrants - the romans, saxons, pics etc - we are really all European, why we do not acknowledge this I am not sure ?stats mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-12846556214367663132010-06-23T15:56:13.207+01:002010-06-23T15:56:13.207+01:00"it has always been (Wales) part of Britain, ..."it has always been (Wales) part of Britain, geographically as well as politically."<br /><br />Hmmm, that's not quite right, is it?<br /><br />Whilst some might want to claim a great united Britain, the reality is a very Disunited Kingdom. Talk to anyone in London about Anglesey, you'll be lucky to get anyone that knows where it is. This is part of our problem: it doesn't feature in anyone's political, geographic or business imagination. Not even the Assembly seems to think much of anywhere north of the valleys.The Great Councillininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-31109163643305661052010-06-23T15:35:23.836+01:002010-06-23T15:35:23.836+01:00"However, that said, Wales's problem is t..."However, that said, Wales's problem is that it's Public Sector is simply too large to be sustained by the tax income from Wales alone at current rates."<br /><br />That's true enough. It might not be true if Wales had control over all of its own resources. In fact i'd wager it almost certainly wouldn't be true if that became the case.<br /><br />The UK- an independent state- also cannot afford to cover its public sector from tax income.<br /><br />I'd be interested to know whether New Labour's borrowing between 97-07 was any bigger than comparable economies in Western Europe.Welsh Ramblingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17585109264200933570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-68409202508587834752010-06-23T14:53:38.110+01:002010-06-23T14:53:38.110+01:00It is at this point I must plead ignorance in term...It is at this point I must plead ignorance in terms of the economy as it has never a subject that I have any in depth knowledge of. <br /><br />But however, it is a debate we should have, (the amount of money we have to pay for services) - I coined years ago that best value was a process to deliver quality services, which aspire to reflect the needs of the local communities, whilst making the most of limited resources available to the council.<br /><br />This is as true then (1998) as it is now, we should have an honest debate about our future services and associated costs i.e How we deliver affordable and reasonable pensions for the future is one we should not avoid.stats mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-65113875828578914732010-06-23T12:37:28.699+01:002010-06-23T12:37:28.699+01:00Stats Man - Public borrowing is not bad per se, bu...Stats Man - Public borrowing is not bad per se, but all borrowing needs to be eventually repaid WITH interest therefore if it can be avoided all the better. I agree that highly targeted investment during a downturn can be beneficial - but only when the Government has a surplus on which to draw. Otherwise the Government compounds its own debt problems whilst at the same time introducing the possibility of reducing the amount of capital available for banks to lend to private businesses.Paul Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01021606156107333019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-39773583028124360262010-06-23T12:24:12.601+01:002010-06-23T12:24:12.601+01:00Dear Druid - welsh independence - I was pulling y...Dear Druid - welsh independence - I was pulling your leg<br /><br />Another point - let me state that public borrowing is not itself a bad thing - it is the level of borrowing that we need to concern yourself with.<br /><br />There are those who say we need to invest in a downturn, and those who say we do not. In my mind it is a question of where the investment goes to, and what affect it would have on the recovery. The exemption from NIC for certain employers is public expenditure, a good one maybe, but still public borrowing?stats mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-53519879752173742522010-06-23T11:59:44.513+01:002010-06-23T11:59:44.513+01:00Stats man - I'm not suggesting Independence is...Stats man - I'm not suggesting Independence is a good idea, though I would in principle be in favour of more radical regionalism/localism. My point was in reference to the paradox in Plaid Cymru's policies.Paul Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01021606156107333019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-70103798497770487542010-06-23T11:54:32.672+01:002010-06-23T11:54:32.672+01:00To Druid - i.e. creating a lean and mean public se...To Druid - i.e. creating a lean and mean public sector fully able of being supported by the tax take in Wales alone - so as to make any eventual devolution feasible without huge tax hikes. <br /><br />Are you suggesting a independent Wales is a good idea?<br /><br />I do not agree - it has always been (Wales) part of Britain, geographically as well as politically.<br /><br />And take Swansea, high public sector there partly due to the DVLA, which serves all of Britain.<br /><br />Anyway welcome back.stats mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130000348899973408.post-22284795896379148252010-06-23T11:15:37.685+01:002010-06-23T11:15:37.685+01:00An interesting posting, and one which raises all s...An interesting posting, and one which raises all sorts of questions. Not least of these is: are our various governments simply spending their way into popularity and a false image that all has been well with the free-market economy? It certainly seems like it. <br /><br />Hardly anyone in would advise a private investor to borrow money in order to invest it. Yet investment is always the rationale behind borrowing, which seems to yield the precise same result as if I borrowed to invest - I'd almost inevitably lose out!<br /><br />I can't help thinking that, rather than patching the current system up, we'd be much better looking at alternative economic models.The Great Councillininoreply@blogger.com