Is austerity working- and will it ever end?

[El Cid 210]

3 hours ago, Cyclone said:

So are you starting to understand austerity.  A policy of underfunding critical services and providing zero funding to services that aren't critical.

1

If only we knew who is meant to fund those services, the council should be providing essential services, but they are struggling - but they are still providing the non-essential services. Like the big TV screens in the city center.

There should be a clear divide, between what service the Government fund and what services the council provide/fund.

 

[Anna B 1,401]

13 minutes ago, El Cid said:

If only we knew who is meant to fund those services, the council should be providing essential services, but they are struggling - but they are still providing the non-essential services. Like the big TV screens in the city center.

There should be a clear divide, between what service the Government fund and what services the council provide/fund.

 

Everybody pays Counciltax, so I suppose they have to try and provide something for every demographic.

I can still remember the fuss that was caused by them spending money on subsidising the busses, (which people who didn't use the bus strongly objected to - even though it prevented pollution.)

[El Cid 210]

1 hour ago, Anna B said:

Everybody pays Counciltax, so I suppose they have to try and provide something for every demographic.

I can still remember the fuss that was caused by them spending money on subsidising the busses, (which people who didn't use the bus strongly objected to - even though it prevented pollution.)

In my local area, people complain about the lack of care for elderly people, who pays for that, the council or the government?

Should the elderly pay their own way, with their pension?

[Robin-H 11]

2 hours ago, Anna B said:

Is this why a lot of working people now have to resort to benefits to top up their income to a survivable level?

The number of people of working age claiming benefits has decreased slightly. 

 

Disposable income has also increased. It has increased the most for the poorest households. 

 

"Households have more disposable income than at any time previously. However, compared with their pre-downturn levels the incomes of the poorest households have risen nearly two thousand pounds but the incomes of the richest are only now slightly higher. Overall, income inequality has slowly fallen over the last decade."

 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/householddisposableincomeandinequality/financialyearending2017

[Anna B 1,401]

I think you'll find that the wealth of the richest in society (who let's face it, don't need any more,) has increased considerably more than a couple of grand. Their money goes up in millions.

https://reconsider.news/2018/06/27/assets-worlds-high-net-wealth-millionaires-surged-70-trillion-2017/

[bendix 10]

10 minutes ago, Anna B said:

I think you'll find that the wealth of the richest in society (who let's face it, don't need any more,) has increased considerably more than a couple of grand. Their money goes up in millions.

https://reconsider.news/2018/06/27/assets-worlds-high-net-wealth-millionaires-surged-70-trillion-2017/

Fascinating, but that is not really the point is it.  The fact remains that after austerity (something made necessary by Labour overspending - rememnber the message card left for the new Tory chancellor by his predecessor?), both poverty and income inequality are lower than they were ten years ago.

 

You can continue to wriggle and writhe, but you can't change facts.

 

Are there areas where improvements can be made?  Yes.  Are there areas of relative deprivation?  For sure?   But it's relative - that's the whole point.

[Cyclone 10]

It certainly didn't happen because of austerity did it.  It would have happened more and faster if that policy didn't exist.

5 hours ago, El Cid said:

If only we knew who is meant to fund those services, the council should be providing essential services, but they are struggling - but they are still providing the non-essential services. Like the big TV screens in the city center.

There should be a clear divide, between what service the Government fund and what services the council provide/fund.

 

We do know and there are.

[Robin-H 11]

2 minutes ago, Cyclone said:

It certainly didn't happen because of austerity did it.  It would have happened more and faster if that policy didn't exist.

We do know and there are.

Why would it? It might have done, it might have not. 

 

It didnt happen under Labour. Inequality grew. 

[Cyclone 10]

Well, the evidence from the countries that didn't follow policies of austerity...

We've had this discussion before, I don't know why, but you refuse to accept any criticism of this government regarding the austerity measures.

[bendix 10]

6 minutes ago, Cyclone said:

Well, the evidence from the countries that didn't follow policies of austerity...

We've had this discussion before, I don't know why, but you refuse to accept any criticism of this government regarding the austerity measures.

Oh come on.  You can't just breezily talk about evidence from the countries that didnt follow policies of austerity and expect us to accept it as fact.  If there is evidence to support what you are saying, post it.

[Cyclone 10]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/07/imf-austerity-doesnt-work-immigrants-working-class

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/austerity-has-damaged-europe-vs-us-gdp-growth-2018-11?r=US&IR=T

 

https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/27/suppl_4/18/4430523

 

https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/new-evidence-imf-suggests-austerity-holding-back-wages

 

Right.  Any evidence that austerity actually works.  And no, a moderate increase in equality is not evidence unless you can show that austerity caused it rather than hindering it.

[Robin-H 11]

11 minutes ago, Cyclone said:

Well, the evidence from the countries that didn't follow policies of austerity...

We've had this discussion before, I don't know why, but you refuse to accept any criticism of this government regarding the austerity measures.

I don’t know why you think I refuse to accept critisicm of austerity measures.

 

I am merely pointing out that despite austerity inequality has decreased and the incomes and disposable incomes of the poorest fifth of people in this country have increased the most. 

 

Ive not claimed that those things are due to austerity, but they are due to policies such as increasing minimum wage above inflation and raising the tax threshold. This has mitigated the worse effects that may have come about by austerity policy and protected the worse off.