UK and the EU

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by clanless, Nov 9, 2015.

  1. Scrungee

    Scrungee Well known for it

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    I have only 1 question

    1) Are all the dire Remain GDP forecasts rellying on continued EU immigration to increase UK GDP, but further reduce per capita GDP?

    EDIT got another one

    2) Are Remainers suggesting interest rates are going to rise or fall if there's a Brexit?
     
  2. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    Noticed some "Vote Leave" posters high up on lamp posts round my way, someone must have gone round with a ladder last night :snork:

    Still cant see any remain ones, but I get the feeling they are just keeping quiet.
     
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    • Fat Controller

      Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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      Another significant factor in debt accrual is simply related to the housing situation. Take my own case - rent that is sky high (£1250 a month at the moment, and that is good for around here), with earnings that do not match - - you can save very little to begin with at that, but then when something big happens (in our case it was our landlord's fire), and you need to replace essential items (fridge, washing machine etc), then you have absolutely no choice but to use credit. And the financiers are really clever - - they get you in, they let you spend and even the interest rate isn't deadly (ours was 12.9% on the credit card), but then when you are completely in hock, they hike the interest rate on you (ours jumped to 29.9% overnight just because we moved house - no missed or late payments, and then jumped again to 34.9% just because they could); then all you can do is pay it off bit by bit and hope that nothing else blows up on you, because the only thing you can do if it does is to load up the credit card again.

      If I had frittered it away on holidays, flashy cars and gizmos left right and centre, then fair enough - - but a fridge or a vacuum cleaner? They are essentials, surely?
       
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      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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        The gap between investment and borrowing, interest wise, needs to be sorted.
        Someone, government, needs to get a grip on the profiteering.

        I'm getting less than 1% on my savings and the credit companies are charging 35%, something has got to be wrong.
         
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        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          I agree that it's all wrong for that to have occurred. House prices rose much too fast because the financial institutions were allowed to get away with lending people too much money. There were no significant controls over it and that has led to house prices, and rent, being way beyond what is reasonable. The ordinary person then gets caught in the trap without any choice. :mad:
           
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          • pete

            pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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            Not sure if this can be seen, but a letter from the rip off merchants that have my savings.
            But as it says at the top, they are on, MY side
            :lunapic 130165696578242 5:

            DSC_0147.JPG
             
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            • shiney

              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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              Ah!! But it's helping to make your savings work for you. :nonofinger: It says so, so it must be true. :doh:
               
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              • clanless

                clanless Total Gardener

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                Funnily enough I was talking to a guy in work today about renting vs buying. He is around my age and rents - he has never had a mortgage and has no intention of getting one. He tells me he doesn't worry about maintenance; can leave if he wants to and has more spare cash to spend and enjoy now.

                We on the other hand have purchased our bungalow - and will end up either selling it to pay for our care or leave it in our will. We went without to buy the place.

                I'm not sure buying is actually that good an idea - I think it's in Germany that most people rent - I can understand why.
                 
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                • "M"

                  "M" Total Gardener

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                  Sorry Shy Knee, hate to disagree with you, but, you've misunderstood. That wasn't a sentence, that was a "scrambled statement" and, once deciphered, reads: "Helping to make you work for your savings"; all jargon, you know :whistle:
                   
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                  • shiney

                    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                    I think it was supposed to say 'making your savings work for us'!! :gaah:
                     
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                    • Fat Controller

                      Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                      I have no problem with renting as such, and indeed there is a lot to be said for it. I am lucky in as much that I have a good landlord, so if anything is needed it will be done. I try to be a good tenant making sure that the decorative order is maintained and I happily do minor repairs where required also. However, recently my rent increased by just under 10% in one move (it was a decimal of 9, that is for sure), yet my salary didn't and won't increase similarly. If my landlord decided they wanted to sell up tomorrow, we are out with little warning (unless of course they sell with us as sitting tenants, which is unlikely given the recent taxation changes in relation to landlords and their income).

                      Now, if we still had a model where you could rent council houses, as we did before Maggie shafted everyone, that would be a completely different story - - those that can afford to pay rent should do so at a reasonable rate with some of that used to offset those who cannot pay at all. Not a profit-making scheme, but rather make it self-supporting. That of course will never happen, as those who have money and property would lose out, and the banks would lose out even more - and there is no government that has the balls to do the right thing.

                      To be honest, this whole EU question demonstrates exactly that -- politicians, be they here in the UK or in the EU; they are all quietly crapping themselves that the working people of the UK stand up and vote out, not for any of the reasons that they have been spouting off recently, but simply because they are scared that their fortunes will be devalued. The whole lot of them are little more than charlatans and shysters who are all in various parts of what is a big club.... a big, back-slapping, corrupt, self-praising club.

                      Take a look at the figures contained here - admittedly it is a fairly specific section of our nation that have responded, and a sample size of just over quarter of a million, but it certainly reflects the sentiment that I have been hearing.

                      Global politics is going to be vastly different come Friday morning whether we stay or leave - if that 'different' means that a load of politicians have a metaphorical bloody nose, then all well and good I say.
                       
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                      • PeterS

                        PeterS Total Gardener

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                        Hi Beckie. At first sight the financial crisis doesn't appear to be related to the Brexit vote. But I think they are both examples of us sleep walking into terrible problems, on one hand financial and on the other hand overpopulation.

                        Many people can see the problems, but no one has the courage to do anything about them, in fact we aren't even allowed to mention either. Then one day we will wake up in the middle of a crisis with a population of 90 million and a very high birth rate from all the recent arrivals, and the government will say no-one saw it coming.

                        Fat Controller - that's a very interesting survey - thank you.
                         
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                          Last edited: Jun 22, 2016
                        • Freddy

                          Freddy Miserable git, well known for it

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                          1% of a lot ain't too bad :biggrin:
                           
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                          • clueless1

                            clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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                            I used to tell myself that when it looked like I'd never get on the housing ladder.

                            Forgive me for sounding like a depressing old miserable git, but the way I see it is this. My hopes and dreams and aspirations are long dead. I pay a mortgage now knowing that unless the interest rates reach Soviet era Russian levels, the monthly outgoing is not going to get out of control. If I make it to 62.5 years of age, I'll leave no debt, and maybe my wife and kids will be OK with some assets. If I drop dead now, then if my friends respect me enough to do my family and favour, they will help my wife to cash in my pension and sell my land, which together should cover the outstanding debts, meaning my family should be OK.

                            Other than that, for me personally, there is not much to be gained by buying as opposed to renting.
                             
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                            • clueless1

                              clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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                              Because nobody has ever heard of a born and bred Brit that breeds like a rabbit just for the benefits. In the UK it is simply unheard of for anyone to reach double digit offspring counts while unemployed and living in social housing.
                               
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