We Just Knew The Guardian Would Come Up With The Answer!
IT’S quite stunning how the Guardian manages to solve each and every problem for us. If the little scrotes are mis-behaving then it’s Sure Start for them: bankers getting out of hand then tax them more. If there’s evil in the human heart then we must understand, empathise: unless it’s done by white men of course in which case more tax is the answer again.
And as we’d all expect they’ve managed to come up with the answer to the debt problems. A quite stunningly simple answer too:
Second, the international machinery to deal with debt favours lenders, typically large banks and other bondholders. Effective debt relief requires sovereign intervention by borrowers to achieve substantial cancellation of debt. Even more, it calls for international co-operation among borrowers.
So, let’s all just agree that we’re not going to pay it back. In the more precise solution, we look at each piece of debt, work out what was bought with it and then refuse to pay the bits that were spent on things we find odious. Sounds fine to me, I’ve no problem with not paying the debt that was used to pay Gordon Brown’s salary.
However, as ever in economics, there is no such thing as a solution. There are only trade offs. Yup, we could simply default, tell the people we owe squiddelypop billions to to bugger off. You can’t have it back in the same way that we’ll never get our pocket money back from older brother. There is just one teensie weensie effect this would have though.
No one would lend us any more money. That would mean we’ve got to cut the government, immediately, down to size. We could only have as much government as we’re willing to pay tax for. At the moment there’s about a £175 billion a year gap there. As I say, we’d have to find that money immediately if we couldn’t borrow from anyone.
1p on income tax raises about £3 billion. So that’s basic rate income tax up to 78 p in the £ then. Or we could cut spending: £175 billion is around and about the NHS, education and defence all put together.
Not exactly attractive alternatives are they? Perhaps keeping on paying the debt is a better one?
Posted: 27th, July 2011 | In: Money Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
