the Austerity Con or Con

[LeMartinPecheur]

Did Keynes really argue this, LMP? Surely there must come a point where the number of unemployed is so great that the lack of purchasing capacity drags down the economy as a whole. Does the present 26% of adult unemployed (over 50% of youth unemployed) in Spain today permit economic equilibrium - it certainly doesn't create social equilibrium?

I'm no economist but it seems to me obvious that 20 people earning £20,000 will spend more (and cost the economy less) than 1 person earning £400,000. Having a society that above all caters for the very rich seems apart from anything else very inefficient (for the society as a whole, I mean, not obviously for the very rich).

aeolium: Keynes (if 'twas indeed he) was not of course advocating a massive level of unemployment a la Spain.

I understood that he was refuting the orthodox economic argument that the market could always be trusted to cure the problem more or less unaided, i.e. if you have large unemployment, the cost of labour will fall, businesses will recruit, bingo - full employment returns, no need whatever for state action hurrah, pure market capitalism is entirely trustworthy and has the best interests of all, including the unemployed, fully covered.

But no, there can be economic equilibrium with large unemployment. The market's incentive to employ workers on a pittance isn't that great if they will buy nothing but low-cost low-margin necessities. Not till the poor start serious insurrection anyway, and even then for real growth in the economy they do need to be paid a bit more than a pittance. (All this is without factoring in such impure economic notions as ethical concern for their and their families' welfare of course)

[aeolium]

I understand the argument now, LMP. Yet there may be economic equilibrium with large-scale unemployment but it will be fragile on account of the social (and in democracies, political) unrest which it brings about - as the example of the demise of the Weimar republic indicates. But the equilibrium will be fragile in any case because of the inherent instability of the capitalist system and its tendency to produce increasingly violent swings between boom and bust particularly in its less regulated form (as in the Roaring Twenties, or the most recent boom pre-2008) - compare this with the long period of growth with generally very high levels of employment in the post-war period between 1945 and the early 1970s, built generally on Keynesian policies.

There's certainly plenty of unemployment around today but I'm not sure about the economic equilibrium

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

time to refresh our priorities i think ...

kids bussing

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

One of the most startling facts about the Great Recession is that although it has profoundly hit the living standards of millions of people, after-tax corporate profits have continued to surge – save for a brief plunge in the midst of the crisis – and in the US are now at their highest in history as a share of GDP.

even the Tgraf is concerned at the theft of wages by capital

[Serial_Apologist]

even the Tgraf is concerned at the theft of wages by capital

Yes indeed - sections of the right wing media can afford to be more honest now that supposedly there's nothing to be done about the present situation except suffer, make our confessionals, and look to the next world for a better hereafter. In that respect The Economist was always more honest - as in the case of Marx, available in the Soviet Union in all libraries but never read, ("Who would want to read Marx?" - official Soviet Library official), nobody in high places here ever thought that working class people would have any interest in reading The Pink 'Un.

[Flay]

The pay of GPs is now such that it is a barrier between them and the general public, no matter how hard both sides try to do their best. Good relations exist despite their pay, not because of it. I don't begrudge them a decent salary given all the hours that they study to be qualified. But £1200 a night is completely outrageous and they know it.

I have only just read through this thread, but I cannot let this one go unchallenged.

GPs' pay did get a boost with the New Contract that was imposed in 2004. There were reports of some GPs earning vast amounts, but this was very much the exception. Income has diminished since, costs are increasing, and the daytime workload has increased dramatically. General Practice is no longer a popular choice for young doctors. It is an exhausting long day, so not unexpectedly very few are keen to work outside normal hours. There may well be times when large inducements might be needed, as in any job.

But please clarify where you get the figure of £1200 a night. Certainly that doesn't happen around my way. You can't just throw in figures like that without evidence. Is this a regular payment somewhere, or a one-off? How long is the shift? What personal expenses are included in that figure?

Please explain. I might even move there....

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

doctor's pay

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Freedland in the Graun .... iknow i know ... the usual suspects .... but a clear piece that makes its point

[Serial_Apologist]

Freedland in the Graun .... iknow i know ... the usual suspects .... but a clear piece that makes its point

A caller on the post-AQ phone in made the salient, I presume, point that, contrary to government and media claim that the Blair/Brown was reponsible for it, Labour had in fact paid off all previously owed debt.

[johnb]

A caller on the post-AQ phone in made the salient, I presume, point that, contrary to government and media claim that the Blair/Brown was reponsible for it, Labour had in fact paid off all previously owed debt.

That contributor was probably referring to the US War Loan that was paid off in 2006. That was only part of the national debt at that time.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

useful reminder .... it is fundamentally worse than we think

[teamsaint]

useful reminder .... it is fundamentally worse than we think

good link jazzer...though its probably only as bad as some of us already think !!

Cheap CDs keeping us from despair......

[handsomefortune]

more cons :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9722661/David-Cameron-ordered-to-stop-saying-NHS-spending-is-up.html

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

neat piece in Graun by Aditya Ch.

which leads to this guy:

Blyth has written a book .... details here

[amateur51]

neat piece in Graun by Aditya Ch.

which leads to this guy:

Blyth has written a book .... details here

Ah Dr Liam Fox ... I wonder what Adam Werrity is doing these days (remember him? )