To wonder why Rishi is continuing to throw out money?

[MiaMarshmallows]

Just reading now about all these different sectors who are going to be getting an extra boost. Isn't this all just contributing to the borrowing and meaning that we will be paying this back for longer and longer?
I know it is needed to help get businesses up and running but he does seem to be throwing money around like paper confetti?

I think giving money away will continue this year because we are still stopping businesses from opening and people from spending. To put taxes up now doesn't make sense economically to me.

I am anticipating next year to be different though as then the businesses that can survive in normal times will be running, we will know the true extent of unemployment and how those that have money are spending it. Then it would not surprise me if taxes are increased across the board.

Because getting money into people's pockets so they can spend it will keep other businesses going and keep other people in jobs. It's far more expensive in the long run to let demand collapse and businesses go to the wall. Even the IMF, which is generally very much in favour of reducing government spending, has been very clear that austerity would be a really bad idea just now. Of course it does depend on whether you get the money to people who will spend it, which I am not confident the Tories will do. It makes even more sense if you can also get other benefits from the money e.g. by funding people to do things that help reduce energy consumption.

I think it is going to take a shift in mindset for some of us, we are so used to hearing there isn’t a magic money tree which is what we heard for so long during austerity .

What is happening is one of those events that will be a pivotal point studied in history as First and second world wars. We didn’t finish paying debt from them until 2006 but life carried on and it will be the same with this I would think.

I am pretty rubbish at economics but can see it isn’t throwing money around like confetti and there is a valid point to doing what he is doing.

HollyWhiskey thanks for taking the time to try explaining that. It helps a little bit but I'll have a look at that link later.

To hide the calamity that is Brexit and maintain popularity. Countrthat tend to greater socialism have maintained far better financial control during the pandemic.
Businesses May go under but others are thriving. Some will quickly recover others won’t, but new ones will spring up. Propping up failing business isn’t sensible in the longer term; we have to adjust to changing circumstances.

In for a penny, in for a pound?

Yet he’s still ignoring 3 million people who couldn’t get support and some haven’t been able to work for almost a year.

What exactly do you expect to happen to hospitality, and in some sectors none essential shops without some form of support? Some have been shut for the vast majority of the past year (varying through the tiers). Totally viable business have been decimated through no fault of their own, and I challenge most people to survive a year having to pour stock down the drain whilst paying rent/utilities/salaries/duty on a few months reduced income. Do you want restaurants, pubs and hotels to be able to reopen this summer? If you might want them, they need to survive until May.

@Paddingtonthebear

The mortgage promise isn’t just for FTB only, it’s for anyone who wants to buy a non-new build property under £600k

That's even worse! Exchange your smaller property with 15% equity for a bigger mortgage with just 5% equity at the start of a very tricky financial period. Fabulous idea!

@TheDrsDocMartens

Yet he’s still ignoring 3 million people who couldn’t get support and some haven’t been able to work for almost a year.

Oh yes this makes me and I'm not one of the affected group.

@LemonRoses

To hide the calamity that is Brexit and maintain popularity. Countrthat tend to greater socialism have maintained far better financial control during the pandemic. Businesses May go under but others are thriving. Some will quickly recover others won’t, but new ones will spring up. Propping up failing business isn’t sensible in the longer term; we have to adjust to changing circumstances.

The government forced businesses to close. Normal business mechanisms were either stopped or supressed, some sectors can find a work-a-round. Some cannot. Once the pandemic measures are relaxed, businesses may go back to pre pandemic models. The government has a duty of care to at least provide support in the short term. Let business bed in again, then they're on their own.

Business cycles after economic shocks normally take 3-7yrs to recover.

Brexit has nothing to do with current government measures.

Brexit has nothing to do with current government measures

Naive.

Brexit is a shit show, and covid is good cover.

@ChameleonClara

"People are not 'underestimating', they understand that without major public sector investment we will be even more fucked. The chancellor is actually making a pretty weak investment.

Biden has just approved a 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus package."

+++++

So Biden has approved a further 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus compared to the £375 billion (500 million dollars) spend in the UK. Conversely Luxembourg has spent less than £10 billion.

The reason for the difference is that some countries are bigger and some are smaller than the UK (Source: Google Maps). Also some countries are richer and some are poorer than the UK for example a comparison of GDP. Lastly populations vary between countries with some countries compared to the UK having lots of people and some less people (Source: Google).

As a result a simple the US spent x dollars and the UK spent y dollars does actually mean anything.

@ChameleonClara

Brexit has nothing to do with current government measures

Naive.

Brexit is a shit show, and covid is good cover.

Exactly.

They’ve been throwing money around to friends, wasting huge amounts and failing those who have suffered most.

@Oversize

I know absolutely nothing about how finance works so tell me like I'm 5 If all the borrowed money isn't real as in it's not an actual heap of cash and if all the countries have borrowed this unreal money, can't they just decide that there's an amount of this unreal cash that they don't have to pay back?

@Oversize - this is the level of my understanding too 😅

@1dayatatime excellent recap of GCSE geography, thank you.

If you think Sunak is doing enough that's great, my view is he is not engaging with the scale of the disruption and what is actually needed.

@Sparrowcrane

It's just delaying the pain and keeping people lulled into blissful ignorance

Absolutely this.

@MiaMarshmallows

Without a doubt, we will all be paying this back for years. He doesn't seem to have a proper plan as to how to balance things back out, just throwing money around as I said like confetti. I know it is necessary in some cases but I do think that some people are unaware that this all comes at a price.

Why do you think people are unaware it ‘comes at a price’? I’m pretty sure most adults are clued up on taxes, budget cuts and austerity.

Why do you think there’s no “proper” plan? What would be a proper plan?

Macro economics- running a country’s economy - is not like balancing the home budget.

@ChameleonClara

Brexit has nothing to do with current government measures

Naive.

Brexit is a shit show, and covid is good cover.

Cover for what?

Do you have any evidence for this theory/statement.

If you can separately qualify and quantify the effects of Brexit and the pandemic then I'm all ears.

@nordica

Sounds like his plan is to claw it back from the self-employed and online businesses - those of us who've had no help whatsoever during the pandemic.

Oh gawd, does it? @nordica can you give a bit more info on that so I can scare myself?

There are five pages on the impact of Brexit on business in the Times today.

ThePricklySheep it's a Telegraph exclusive behind a paywall but was discussed in the paper reviews last night on both Sky and the BBC. Sounds like national insurance rises for the self employed (to "level" the field apparently...) and an online sales tax.

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/27/rishi-sunak-plots-tax-raid-parcels-freelance-workers/

Just through hearing people talk about this money they will get and how everything will then be fine. It just seems very gullible.

I have heard of the rumours of SE people being targeted and if that is true, it's yet another sign of a shambolic government. Targeting those who will inevitably suffer most.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics
Not saying he’s making all the right choices but austerity is definitely not the answer