British economy grows by a whopping 0.1%

Britain limped out of its longest ever recession in the fourth quarter of 2009, official data showed on Tuesday, but massive debt is set to stunt recovery beyond a looming general election.

British gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 0.1 percent in the three months to December, compared with a 0.2 percent contraction in the third quarter, the Office for National Statistics announced in a statement.

news.smh.com.au...

I wonder how they did it? Must be the result of new manufacturing jobs.

news.smh.com.au...

interesting to note...

UK currently has a conservative government, and the US currently has a liberal government...both economys are sucking at the moment, so I guess its simply a matter of uncertainty in the hands of investors moreso than any ideological concept being implemented...even though both sides of the coin blame the other for everything wrong in the world.

reply to post by SaturnFX


The UK has had a socialist government for over a decade. Enough said.



(And there has to be no doubt pen-pushers have been working all hours to get the % figure into positive territory.)

Originally posted by pause4thought
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

The UK has had a socialist government for over a decade. Enough said.

(And there has to be no doubt pen-pushers have been working all hours to get the % figure into positive territory.)

Yer, enough said about NuLabour, bet they've been working a while to cook those books.. not sure the cons will be any better tho

reply to post by thoughtsfull


"Well Stanley (I mean Gordon) - that's another fine mess you've gotten me into."

Labour = spend money we don't have & sell the family silver (gold actually)

Cons = overheated bubble economy

(Lib-Dem = "What's a cabinet?")

So what's left? Vote MRL?..

reply to post by pause4thought


There is no real choice between, dumb, dumber or dumbest.

Really, I can't even work out my voting criteria yet.. should I go for the colour of their ties? since that will be a more positive approach when compared to the polices each are spouting.

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Personally I prefer the scientific approach. Phrenology to be precise.


In the red corner we have:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3fe07e4d211c.jpeg[/atsimg]


In the blue Corner we have:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ba932f3f8544.jpeg[/atsimg]


In the yellow corner we have:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1c3e061ef965.jpeg[/atsimg]


And, finally, jumping on the rings we have:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ce6c46bf4675.jpeg[/atsimg]



Now look very closely. Very closely. Only one of these has any chance of keeping any money in hand by the end of even a single term in office.



*Note for those unfamiliar with Screaming Lord Sutch, sometime leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party

reply to post by pause4thought


hmmmm... an interesting approach..

So do you hope to find a brain amongst this lot them???

I'm impressed *claps* I didn't know they had one between them...

To all the unbelievers, see you can learn something new every day..

reply to post by thoughtsfull


TBH I'm still working on my latest formula. Plus Lord Sutch's insistence on accuracy meant his head circumference was only ever officially measured in quanta.

I was, however always struck by the basis of his economic policy, his much-maligned Theory of a Nice Piggy-Bank, whereby a government would never spend more than it could afford. Of course once the cat was out of the bag the MRLs were never again considered serious candidates, in effect becoming the laughing stock of the political world.

I know it sounds bizarre, but it seems everything else has now been tried - maybe they deserve a chance?

reply to post by pause4thought



Lol, thanks for making me smile

In all honesty, if they were putting up candidates in this area, that would be where my vote would go, without a shadow of doubt or second thought

We burnt a few piggies this way last 5th... which is now one of my favourite pictures



that greedy pig virus has more to answer for than swine flu

reply to post by SaturnFX


The Labour party is left leaning in the UK, just like our Labour party. To confuse things even further our conservative party is called the Liberal Party. In the UK it's the "Torries" or conservatives which I'm sure is less confusing for Americans. Anyway to make things simple I just refer to the right as neo-cons and the left as neo-coms regardless of nationality because there seems to be very few centrist parties these days.

[edit on 26-1-2010 by Jacob08]

Are we really out of the ressesion though? Even if we are, we've just made out natinol dept incredibly high. Last I heard it was 700 billion; that was about 6 months ago. Anyone have an achual figures?

How is the progressive way of thinking working out for you guys and gals over in bend you over and rape you of freedom land? I bet you wish you could go back in time and keep you honor and dignity that the British people have always had until now. The British are a good strong people and it happened to them---- America take notice!!!! And before you say this has nothing to do with the economy I beg to differ I think it has everything to do with it.

Originally posted by Subjective Truth
How is the progressive way of thinking working out for you guys and gals over in bend you over and rape you of freedom land? I bet you wish you could go back in time and keep you honor and dignity that the British people have always had until now. The British are a good strong people and it happened to them---- America take notice!!!! And before you say this has nothing to do with the economy I beg to differ I think it has everything to do with it.

Care to elaborate on this point?
What is this honour and dignity of which you speak, and when did we lose it? How did we lose it, and why did we lose it, and why does it have anything to do with the economy.

I'd be very interested to hear this.

reply to post by SaturnFX


The economy is rarely ever challenged or fixed by a President/prime minister or elected official except through taxation .. Liberals tend to raise taxes during down economies, Conservatives tend to cut taxes. Depending on what kind of recession/depression either one can be good or bad.

If you look at both the US and the UK .. all financial decisions are made by non-politicians .. both have centralized banking, and both countries economic advisers are not affiliated with one party exclusively (Obama for instance uses many of the same economic advisers from the same sources as Bush did)

Governments are just taking the blame for what banks did to us.

I think Rockpuck has it about right.

The people that run our economies and dictate policy remain constant regardless of who the elected government is.

What the exact National Debt is open to debate as it currently doesn't include pension contributions and Private Financial Initiatives (PFI's).
The UK's natinal debt is currently measured at 61% of GDP, significantly higher than the safety limit of 40%.

A good introduction to the UK national debt and how it compares to other countries can be found here www.economicshelp.org...

When Brown bailed the banks out and thus significantly increased the national debt he did so under orders from TPTB and it would have been irrelevant which party was 'in power'.
They play a long game with only the advancement of their own agenda their only interest and concern.

Personally I see little improvement in the economy.
A lot of my friends run building and construction related businesses and they are still struggling .

S&F

I live in Canada. I get paid in GB Pounds. I've been working for a British company since 2006 and when I started there, 1 pound = 2.32 CDN

Just last week, it was down to 1 = 1.63

How's that for a pay cut?

Where do you gentlemen see us in a year from now?

Ever since 2007, I've been telling myself... "it can't get any worse". But it's been abso-f'n-lutely brutal. I need England back on it's feet, as many of you do too!
------------------------------------------------------------
To subjective truth: What's this honor and dignity crap you're going on about?

You want to see some honor and dignity? Watch England destroy their group with class at this year's world cup. Drop by a local pub, and you'll see supporters there full of honour and dignity.

In a UK radio phone in yesterday, they got a mixed response from traders. But if I hear another person talking about the public 'holding back' from spending, I shall scream.
Don't they get it? It's not just the jobless. It's all those who are on part time hours, lower pay rates... For a lot of us, it's not our choice to spend or not to spend. Some of us don't have a choice as to whether we have a holiday or a new sofa. Some of us have to think whether we can afford a new pair of socks. Ghrr....

reply to post by unicorn1


Tell me about it buddy....

They should be doing more to get tourists to England and SPEND some money now that the pound is low.... not fleece the underpaid population.