In the UK we have socialism for the elite and capitalism for the poor.

So, once again, the ones who made an effort, went out to work and tried to get up the ladder but are struggling, get no help. Many who made no effort and borrowed money will get it written of. Same as usual really.

comment by CurlyBlackBonce (U18853)
posted 10 seconds ago
So, once again, the ones who made an effort, went out to work and tried to get up the ladder but are struggling, get no help. Many who made no effort and borrowed money will get it written of. Same as usual really.
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Interesting observation

In pre working families' Tax Credit days maybe about 15 years ago, I had a similar struggle with starting low paid work after a couple of years on the dole and found that all my benefits I had during signing on all but disappeared.

During that time I did wonder if I was making the right move.

Credit where it's due, at least people are being bailed out. I hope they get good financial advice lessons.

comment by Admin1 (U1)
posted 5 minutes ago
In the UK we have socialism for the elite and capitalism for the poor.
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The families benefitting from this scheme earn around £125 a month. I won't pretend to understand how to adjust that to reflect UK living standards but i'm fairly sure we do better than that on our bread line.

comment by SM67 (U19913)
posted 20 seconds ago
comment by CurlyBlackBonce (U18853)
posted 10 seconds ago
So, once again, the ones who made an effort, went out to work and tried to get up the ladder but are struggling, get no help. Many who made no effort and borrowed money will get it written of. Same as usual really.
***************************************
Interesting observation

In pre working families' Tax Credit days maybe about 15 years ago, I had a similar struggle with starting low paid work after a couple of years on the dole and found that all my benefits I had during signing on all but disappeared.

During that time I did wonder if I was making the right move.

Credit where it's due, at least people are being bailed out. I hope they get good financial advice lessons.
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I do wonder though, when they say that a family has to have no more than a combined income of £125 per month in order to qualify !!!!

It could be me, though who just isn't able to comprehend that level of poverty.

House of Lords daily expense limit £400. Disability benefit £16.

There is a definite carve up, for sure.

Okay so we are far from perfect but we also probably aren't worse than Croatia.

comment by Admin1 (U1)
posted 22 seconds ago
House of Lords daily expense limit £400. Disability benefit £16.

There is a definite carve up, for sure.
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And I wouldn't be surprised if there was some bent Peer who claims the max expenses and is disabled as well to get the extra £16

A bank fails to understand the damaging effect of low capital ratio and high leverage exposure = bail out

Poor single mother fails to understand the impact of compound interest and uses wonga = tough luck

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

comment by Galv: Bunny's Rolex (U10415)
posted 22 seconds ago
Punishes people like me who have never been in debt.
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Yeah can see that side of things. No different to the austerity measures the UK population are getting nailed with at the moment.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Galv: Bunny's Rolex


Punishes people like me who have never been in debt.




I bet you owed your Mum a tenner or something when you were perhaps 15 or so.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

comment by Galv: Bunny's Rolex (U10415)
posted 5 minutes ago
Slightly different
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Mum introduced a "fresh start" programme so that he didn't have to pay it back. Good old mum's

comment by Admin1 (U1)
posted 24 minutes ago
A bank fails to understand the damaging effect of low capital ratio and high leverage exposure = bail out

Poor single mother fails to understand the impact of compound interest and uses wonga = tough luck
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, I personally think that the banks should have been left to fail and there should have been no bail outs at all, so I'm with you on that.

But being poor is no excuse for stupidity, I've taught my 10 year old about compound interest, so I understand some people have no choice but to borrow, but my sympathy runs out at the "I didn't understand how it worked and how much interest we would pay" stage...

Galv

Only joking.


I myself always seemed to be in debt up until a few years back, I seem to have an incredible way of wasting money, without having anything tangible to show for it. But I always paid every single penny back.

Fortunately I have an understanding missus who knows how to handle money, and it is her that knew how to budget so that we could buy our own house and have all the mod cons that go with the modern living.

Left with me I would probably be living in a tent now.

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 8 seconds ago
comment by Admin1 (U1)
posted 24 minutes ago
A bank fails to understand the damaging effect of low capital ratio and high leverage exposure = bail out

Poor single mother fails to understand the impact of compound interest and uses wonga = tough luck
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, I personally think that the banks should have been left to fail and there should have been no bail outs at all, so I'm with you on that.

But being poor is no excuse for stupidity, I've taught my 10 year old about compound interest, so I understand some people have no choice but to borrow, but my sympathy runs out at the "I didn't understand how it worked and how much interest we would pay" stage...
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Then maybe you just haven't been desperate. I have no sympathy for the lazy, but. Lot's of people didn't understand what 3000% interest was and it was never spelt out to them.

The financial institutes allowed that to happen and they doin't care. If it happens to then, it's so sad and we bail them out.

I'm frankly, disgusted with the whole corrupt establishment.

We have to save for our pensions, but then we still have to contribute to a national pension system that just doesn't work. They pay my pension to a pensioner today, they don't save it for when I retire.

I have to contribute to a NHS but if I get sick, I should have had private medical care to get up the queue.

Imagine, a high wind blows a tree down and it makes a hole in my roof. Well, I'm reasonably sensible and have insurance. The insurance company pays out and a builder comes to fix it. How in hells name did the government have a right to charge 17% VAT on the builder's bill ?????

comment by CurlyBlackBonce (U18853)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 8 seconds ago
comment by Admin1 (U1)
posted 24 minutes ago
A bank fails to understand the damaging effect of low capital ratio and high leverage exposure = bail out

Poor single mother fails to understand the impact of compound interest and uses wonga = tough luck
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, I personally think that the banks should have been left to fail and there should have been no bail outs at all, so I'm with you on that.

But being poor is no excuse for stupidity, I've taught my 10 year old about compound interest, so I understand some people have no choice but to borrow, but my sympathy runs out at the "I didn't understand how it worked and how much interest we would pay" stage...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Then maybe you just haven't been desperate. I have no sympathy for the lazy, but. Lot's of people didn't understand what 3000% interest was and it was never spelt out to them.

The financial institutes allowed that to happen and they doin't care. If it happens to then, it's so sad and we bail them out.

I'm frankly, disgusted with the whole corrupt establishment.

We have to save for our pensions, but then we still have to contribute to a national pension system that just doesn't work. They pay my pension to a pensioner today, they don't save it for when I retire.

I have to contribute to a NHS but if I get sick, I should have had private medical care to get up the queue.

Imagine, a high wind blows a tree down and it makes a hole in my roof. Well, I'm reasonably sensible and have insurance. The insurance company pays out and a builder comes to fix it. How in hells name did the government have a right to charge 17% VAT on the builder's bill ?????
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree with most of what you say.

And I did say I appreciate the desperation that drives people to such loans. But I can google a loans calculator in less than a second, and assuming you know what a percentage is then you really ought to be able to work out that 3000 out of a hundred is a very big number.

They dress up the APR, by saying borrow 50 quid today pay back in 30 days cost £56. Doesn't seem bad does it?

comment by Admin1 (U1)
posted 2 minutes ago
They dress up the APR, by saying borrow 50 quid today pay back in 30 days cost £56. Doesn't seem bad does it?
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Ok, I agree with that too, though whether on your loan agreement the APR is buried away in the tiny print at the bottom or there in big bold black and white letters I don't know.

But equally it's not 1850, and people are savvy enough to post photos to instagram, and upload videos to youtube, and download all the apps they want, but apparently their tech skills fail when it comes to googling what an APR is.

To put it another way the internet should mean that whilst stupidity will always be with us, there is a lot less excuse for ignorance.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Having moved travelled all across the world and finally fully left England for Australia I've come to see just how much of a mess England truly is - particularly the younger generations.

No chance of buying a house unless you want to be saddled with a life time of debt. Such insistence on everyone getting a degree that for your 30k and 3 long years you end up in a desperate rat race, often working for low pay in a job well below your level of qualification.

We've got a huge class divide that's only getting worse.

If England wants to recover it doesn't need to write off debt. It needs to give people the opportunity to help themselves and in no way allow living long term on benefit for no good reason.

I'd like England to increase minimum wage (which gets money flowing and actually increases jobs long term) and support smaller businesses, offset that by making corporations pay real tax and cap housing costs.

The big problem that I see with bailing out the banks is that the money never came back out.

Why didn't the Bank of England lend directly to the public? They could have taken over failed banks, loaned money to us at a decent rate. We would have carried on buying houses and cars etc.

The car industry would not have laid of thousands, the construction industry would have continued to employ.

The BofE would have got better returns from us than they do the banks, the government would have had tax income.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator