The Budget (March 2013)

[superfrank]

Plan A died long ago: Five facts to remember ahead of tomorrow’s Budget
http://www.cityam.com/article/plan-died ... w-s-budget

The plan can therefore no longer be described as Plan A or even a “deficit reduction plan”.

The Treasury’s Public Finances Databank shows overall total expenditure in real terms will fall by just 3 per cent over the course of this Parliament, compared to a 62 per cent rise during the New Labour period in office.

[superfrank]

the most notable thing was 2 more schemes designed to reflate the housing bubble with public money http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21849974.

[Euler]

Gotta keep those asset prices up!

Just been listen to a broad dicussion on debt etc. We are going to be stuck with this problem for a few years it seems. US is in a better position than I thought though.

[superfrank]

Gotta keep those asset prices up!

Just been listen to a broad dicussion on debt etc. We are going to be stuck with this problem for a few years it seems. US is in a better position than I thought though.

exactly! (nominal ones at least)

i agree with you about the US - they have at least deleverged a bit and it's still the most free country and has far better prospects than the UK.

the UK needs radical change, but won't get it. TPTB are still in denial and inflation will only cause bigger problems than it solves.

[Iron]

This has got to be one of the all time great Sun headlines: https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/3144 ... 76/photo/1

[Euler]

Love the way all the opposition parties and coming out and saying that the way to solve the debt crisis is to borrow more money. Well all apart from UKIP it seems.

[Iron]

I hear that a UKIP candidate just down the road from you did quite well in a recent by-election. Not that I'm trying to drop a hint...

Jeff

Love the way all the opposition parties and coming out and saying that the way to solve the debt crisis is to borrow more money. Well all apart from UKIP it seems.

[Iron]

The home loans plan (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21881007) is worrying.

I wonder whether it's the Tories' last ditch attempt to get a bit of economic activity going in order to win the next election. There's nothing like a sub-prime mortgage bubble to get people spending...

Jeff

[superfrank]

these new policies have nothing to do with helping first-time buyers, and everything to do with boosting house prices in a desperate attempt to create some more phoney wealth.

The aim of the policy, which will be available for homes up to £600,000 from January 2014, is to breathe new life into the housing market, which has been hit by banks demanding bigger deposits from homebuyers.

"breathe new life" = create house price inflation.

how many first-time buyers spend over half a million pounds on a home?

it's just yet more market manipulation which will ultimately fail, like all anti-free market policies.

even if all these inflationary policies (in stocks, property then everything else) "succeed" (in creating high inflation), they will only succeed in creating the final blow-off phase of a crash that will make 2008 seem like a tea party.

Bubble_Phases.jpg