BB - Britain Bankrupt

[Brendan R]

How quickly could the United Kingdom go bankrupt? Given the speed at which countries and companies have been brought to their knees in recent months, it is no longer hard to envision a scenario in which foreign investors become spooked by the UK's soaring debts and flee.

The hot money, which has propped up the UK economy for the past decade, will seek safety in Switzerland, Japan and the Middle East. And within days, Regent Street will look like downtown Reykjavik.

The bankruptcy scenario goes like this. British output is already falling, and tax revenues along with it. But the government is not merely holding spending steady, but actually increasing it to fund tax cuts and bank bail-outs.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45968,opinion,bankruptcy-beckons-for-not-so-great-britain

How long before Britain goes bankrupt?

 

[MJUK]

Well Britain has very low public debt relative to other countries so it can afford to increase it really.

Japan has public debt to GDP of 170%, the US 70%, many European countries 65% athough Italy is 105%; the UK has public debt to GDP of 40%.

The UK can spend £450 billion and still only have the same public debt ratio of the US.

 

[Humpy]

Our dear leader Gordon ( the self proclaimed financial guru ) Brown is personally responsible for much of not only Britain's money problems but is also trying to hoodwink other world leaders into making the same mistakes.

The Conservatives left a strenghtening economy and that clown Gordon has ruined it with his left wing social engineering at home and over generosity to 3rd world countries abroad.

The once mighty West has been brought to its knees by Bush, Blair and Brown. The 3 idiots of the century !

Its no joke that bankrupt Iceland is looking East for help

 

[Brendan R]

Quote from MJUK:

Well Britain has very low public debt relative to other countries so it can afford to increase it really.

Japan has public debt to GDP of 170%, the US 70%, many European countries 65% athough Italy is 105%; the UK has public debt to GDP of 40%.

The UK can spend £450 billion and still only have the same public debt ratio of the US.

unfortunately your numbers are wrong.

The government must recognise the true scale of public debt and bring in some much-needed transparency

The British government often congratulates itself on its efforts to keep public finances on a stable and sustainable level. Yesterday Gordon Brown even claimed: "Debt is considerably lower than a decade ago". However, Britain's public debt is actually £1,866 billion, equivalent to 125.5% of GDP, nearly three times larger than the government's published figure of £645 billion and 43.4% of GDP. This measures out as a debt of £76,475 per British household.

While figures recently released on the scale of the government's public spending bonanza point to government borrowing leaping to a record £8.1 billion in September, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Opaque off-balance sheet measures have, until revealed in The Price of Irresponsibility published by the Centre for Policy Studies, kept hidden the full cost of projects financed through the Private Finance Initiative, the extent of unfunded public sector pension liabilities, the debt incurred by Network Rail and the recent nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley.

Yet, the figure may be much worse. While the exact impact on the public finances of the government's recent bail-out of the banking sector is as yet unknown, it could imply an addition of as much as £500 billion to the balance sheet. This would increase public debt to a massive £2,366 billion, which is 159.1% of GDP, or over £96,967 per British household.

Hiding substantial liabilities off the government balance sheet has enabled it to circumvent Gordon Brown's much-lauded "Golden Rule" and "Sustainable Investment Rule". Political expediency appears to have won out over the need to plan prudently for the country's future.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/21/economy-creditcrunch

 

[Debaser82]

People in Britain need to buy gold and buy it fast.

 

[Brendan R]

Quote from Debaser82:

People in Britain need to buy gold and buy it fast.

you are right, unfortunately they will have to pay a price much higher than what G. Brown sold our gold reserves for a few years ago.

G. Brown sold our gold at the lows.

 

[Humpy]

Quote from Brendan R:

you are right, unfortunately they will have to pay a price much higher than what G. Brown sold our gold reserves for a few years ago.

G. Brown sold our gold at the lows.

The silly arse gave the markets 2 weeks warning that tons of UK gold would be sold.
The stupid idiot didn't realize the price would drop a lot.

What a dummy !!

 

[Brendan R]

For once, I agree with the Germans

from the BBC website, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7776462.stm

German ridicule for UK policies

The German finance minister has launched an outspoken attack on the UK government's plans to help pull Britain out of the economic downturn.

In an unusual breach of standard diplomacy, Peer Steinbruck attacked the UK's decision to cut VAT and raise the national debt to record levels.

Mr Steinbruck said the UK's switch from financial prudence to heavy borrowing was both "crass" and "breathtaking".

His comments came in an interview with Newsweek magazine.

"There is a broad international consensus that a fiscal stimulus is right thing for economies now," said a Treasury spokesman.

'Debt generation'

Criticising the UK government's decision to cut VAT from 17.5% to 15%, Mr Steinbruck questioned how effective this will be.

"Are you really going to buy a DVD player because it now costs £39.10 instead of £39.90?" he said.

"All this will do is raise Britain's debt to a level that will take a whole generation to work off."

Saying the UK government was now "tossing around billions", Mr Steinbruck questioned why Britain was now closely following the high public spending model put forward by 20th Century economist John Maynard Keynes.

"The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking," he said.

"When I ask about the origins of the [financial] crisis, economists I respect tell me it is the credit-financed growth of recent years and decades.

"Isn't this the same mistake everyone is suddenly making again, under all the public pressure?"

German spending

Chancellor Alistair Darling announced in last month's pre-Budget report that the government would inject an extra £20bn into the UK economy in a bid to get it moving again.

At least £15bn of this total will come from increased government borrowing, which is expected to take the UK national debt to £118bn next year.

While Mr Steinbruck has accused the UK of over-spending on the economic recovery, the German government has put 480bn euros (£370.4bn; $645bn) into a rescue package for its banks.

Most other European government's have also increased public spending to try to ease the impact of the economic downturn.

France recently announced plans to spend 26bn euros, and the European Commission wants to spend 200bn euros across the European Union.

 

[Champion]

Quote from Debaser82:

People in Britain need to buy gold and buy it fast.

You talk sh*t.
"Whats for dinner tonight darling?" "Forget dinner, we've gotta buy some gold now. Come on, quick, quick, for Gods sake"

What a complete idiot.

 

[Humpy]

Looks like just about all countries are going down the Gordon Brown road of hugely increasing public debt to get their economies moving again. BUT

the major problem imho is over-supply in just about every sector. Giving billions to uncompetitive auto makers for instance will just prop most of them up until they are allowed to die naturally anyway having wasted more billions !

You either protect with import controls or let markets take their course

Its an odds on certainty imho that politicians will opt for a fudge between these two options and their economies will fall apart