On 16/02/2015 14:12, bert wrote:
In message , Adrian
....
The economy's not great - sure - because of a global mire, which (yes)
the UK was partly responsible for. But it's nowhere near as bad as most
of our competitors, and it's improving rapidly.

Ignore big scary numbers with lots of zeroes, and look at %ages of GDP.
The deficit is still present but down hugely, and debt is large but
manageable.

But GDP Doesn't represent wealth. It doesn't take into account debt. Our
debt s about £1.4 trillion and now rising at the rate of about £100bn
per annum. That is not sustainable in the long term.

Nor is it expected it will be. As a percentage of GDP, our national debt
will probably start to reduce after next year. The national deficit is
reducing and is expected to become a surplus around 2017. Our net
borrowing is reducing - we borrowed about £150bn in 2009 - and is
projected to reach zero around 2019. Of course, that may depend upon who
is in power.

And merely
increasing GDP by borrowing more or inflating the public sector doesn't
tackle the problem.

Borrowing to invest, which can be a major part of our borrowing, helps
to reduce the deficit and if government can increase its assets that can
reduce or avoid borrowing.


--
Colin Bignell