Quote Originally Posted by az city View Post
I'm not 100% sure I'm fully up on what Truss has done. Here's what I gather has gone on.

As I understand it, Truss is borrowing GBP130B to fund the price cap. Of course, that borrowing will have to be paid back over the long-run through raising taxes. That will reduce aggregate demand and thus economic growth even further on Plague Island.

I also am led to believe that energy producers in the UK are expecting supra-normal profits of around GBP170B through the energy crisis. Of course, they won't just dole that huge sum out to their shareholders, they'll use it to invest and grow the UK economy a la trickledown (note to Jimbo - I'm being sarcastic).

Jimbo, I just don't see this as good news. GBP170B > GBP130B. And then there's the apparent abandonment of climate change objectives. This is appalling.
You aren't very consistent Prof. This is what you said a few months ago about Britains borrowing debt. You seemed okay with it when it was something you supported (paying people to stay at home and lockdown the country etc) but less so when it's about subsidising peoples bills. In summary below, you said it's a "right wing trope" ( obvs! ) to complain about debt and repayments.

You even said it "never has to be repayed"

So do we take you seriously then, or now?

"First, UK austerity is now widely acknowledged to have been a huge own goal and a bust (cf Joe Stiglitz).

This "amazement" at borrowing and debt levels is one of the standard rightwing tropes that emerges from time to time before they slam the poor with austerity claiming it's about controlling public finances. For context, the UK's current GDP is around 3T. In your language that's GBP 3,000,000M. Does 17,400M GBP now seem that big? I think not.

A few other things that seem missing in your picture. The UK economy is not (as Thathcer said) like a household. The National Debt never has to be repaid. That is a crass oft-peddled misunderstanding of the macroeconomy. Debt has to be serviced sustainably to maintain confidence in the currency but the debt can revolve forever. Effectively it means the UK has to cover its interest payments so the ROW is confident it will continue to do so and carry on buying its debt instruments."

https://www.ccmb.co.uk/showthread.ph...90#post5256990