350Z
2nd Jul 2009, 11:25
First of all a quick warning- This post contains a large amount of possibly incorrect, negative and or unbalanced economic data/viewpoints with a dose of sarcasm and spelling mistakes in places.
Depression, no not the global economic type, the mental state of mind. It's all to easy to read the doom and gloom on here, in the broadsheets and see it on the TV. This constant feed of bad news takes its toll on young twenty somethings who thought the world was their oyster and that they could achieve anything they set their minds to. Incidentally, this was me and now I feel depressed!
Unfortunately for many these dreams have been shattered. After years spent at school, university/ flight training or otherwise they now realise that there is NO light at the end of the tunnel. Previous generations and governments have ruined any chance of prospering due to a crippled global economy.
The UK government sat back, got fat and spent a great deal during the 'good times', only to be left in ruins once the inevitable bursting of the bubble occurred. It was clearly very irresponsible of the people in power to let the house price bubble and lending levels get to the heights they did, after all, stamp duty was a nice little earner for them and we were happy because we all felt rich thanks to the vast amount of equity built up (and subsequently drawn on and spent). Oh no wait, hold on a second, I went to university and graduated with no job and zero opportunity of getting on the housing ladder thanks to ridiculous prices often 6+ times annual earnings.
Gordon Brown said he would end boom and bust- the idiot was wrong! VERY wrong. In addition, he has made numerous other cock ups from selling our gold at historical lows (loosing £3bn- pocket change really) to the pointless decision of cutting VAT which resulted in a £12.4bn black hole! Good work, he'll probably fix that by raising it to 20%
Ok so I've rambled on long enough, let me bullet point the main issues and finish making my point.
UK economy shrank by 2.4 per cent in the first quarter at the fastest rate in more than 50 years and far worse than expected.
According to the ONS, year on year, GDP had fallen 4.9 per cent, the biggest drop on record.
OECD is also predicting that UK unemployment will top 3 million over the next 12 months taking the unemployment rate to 11.2%
1 million 16-24 yr olds NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) ME.
Vast public debt which has been racked up, currently £750.3 billion, equivalent to 52.0 per cent of GDP (end Dec08) However, this is estimated to reach £1.2 trillion by 2012, a massive 79% of GDP!
Taxation- watch it rocket!...Don't even get me started on MP's expenses, pension deficits, oil/ fuel prices etc.
UK PLC is not in a good position, If I had family overseas I would be out of here for the next decade! All it will take is a ratings downgrade from S&P for the world to truly realise how completely shot our finances are. Bottom line, Britain is buggered! Despite recent troubles China will probably make a return to 10% annual GDP growth during the next few years; think I might look into learning Mandarin!
I guess things could have been different for me. Some of my friends that didn't go to university have worked their way up in decent bluechip companies, achieving a half decent salary (£30k) and bought houses. At least I didn't buy at the top and watch my property tumble in value, same goes for stocks and shares- no money no investments, no 30%+ falls in portfolio values.
After all of this, I guess the point I'm trying to make is; the global economy is crippled, UK's even more so. However, there is sweet FA we can do to change this, it is not the end of the world and the sun is still shining! I will continue to read the broadsheets every day but will not let the persistent doom and gloom get me down! Life is what you make it and despite the really poor economic environment I am happy to have my health and happiness.
Just a quick note regarding the airline industry and integrated flight training; it's wrecked and don't do it! There are NO jobs with airlines, they are cutting capacity quicker than anything, there is a huge pilot surplus especially now that it's possible to work longer before retiring. Flight training will financial and mentally cripple you! Debt is evil and will ruin your life. Get a normal job (if you can), live at home, save your pennies and put it into a pension so you can afford Sky tv when you are old and wrinkled ;-)
Oh and to those that will post figures relating to positive news and a possible economic recovery; don't be silly, happy talk will not turn things around!
Pprune economist and spelling/grammar police, do your worst. In all seriousness though, I went to a crap comprehensive school (a whole new topic in itself) so any tips on grammar would be great, only thing I got taught was 'I' before 'E' accept after 'C'.
I'm still smiling. Sorry if I over did the bold!
Depression, no not the global economic type, the mental state of mind. It's all to easy to read the doom and gloom on here, in the broadsheets and see it on the TV. This constant feed of bad news takes its toll on young twenty somethings who thought the world was their oyster and that they could achieve anything they set their minds to. Incidentally, this was me and now I feel depressed!
Unfortunately for many these dreams have been shattered. After years spent at school, university/ flight training or otherwise they now realise that there is NO light at the end of the tunnel. Previous generations and governments have ruined any chance of prospering due to a crippled global economy.
The UK government sat back, got fat and spent a great deal during the 'good times', only to be left in ruins once the inevitable bursting of the bubble occurred. It was clearly very irresponsible of the people in power to let the house price bubble and lending levels get to the heights they did, after all, stamp duty was a nice little earner for them and we were happy because we all felt rich thanks to the vast amount of equity built up (and subsequently drawn on and spent). Oh no wait, hold on a second, I went to university and graduated with no job and zero opportunity of getting on the housing ladder thanks to ridiculous prices often 6+ times annual earnings.
Gordon Brown said he would end boom and bust- the idiot was wrong! VERY wrong. In addition, he has made numerous other cock ups from selling our gold at historical lows (loosing £3bn- pocket change really) to the pointless decision of cutting VAT which resulted in a £12.4bn black hole! Good work, he'll probably fix that by raising it to 20%
Ok so I've rambled on long enough, let me bullet point the main issues and finish making my point.
UK economy shrank by 2.4 per cent in the first quarter at the fastest rate in more than 50 years and far worse than expected.
According to the ONS, year on year, GDP had fallen 4.9 per cent, the biggest drop on record.
OECD is also predicting that UK unemployment will top 3 million over the next 12 months taking the unemployment rate to 11.2%
1 million 16-24 yr olds NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) ME.
Vast public debt which has been racked up, currently £750.3 billion, equivalent to 52.0 per cent of GDP (end Dec08) However, this is estimated to reach £1.2 trillion by 2012, a massive 79% of GDP!
Taxation- watch it rocket!...Don't even get me started on MP's expenses, pension deficits, oil/ fuel prices etc.
UK PLC is not in a good position, If I had family overseas I would be out of here for the next decade! All it will take is a ratings downgrade from S&P for the world to truly realise how completely shot our finances are. Bottom line, Britain is buggered! Despite recent troubles China will probably make a return to 10% annual GDP growth during the next few years; think I might look into learning Mandarin!
I guess things could have been different for me. Some of my friends that didn't go to university have worked their way up in decent bluechip companies, achieving a half decent salary (£30k) and bought houses. At least I didn't buy at the top and watch my property tumble in value, same goes for stocks and shares- no money no investments, no 30%+ falls in portfolio values.
After all of this, I guess the point I'm trying to make is; the global economy is crippled, UK's even more so. However, there is sweet FA we can do to change this, it is not the end of the world and the sun is still shining! I will continue to read the broadsheets every day but will not let the persistent doom and gloom get me down! Life is what you make it and despite the really poor economic environment I am happy to have my health and happiness.
Just a quick note regarding the airline industry and integrated flight training; it's wrecked and don't do it! There are NO jobs with airlines, they are cutting capacity quicker than anything, there is a huge pilot surplus especially now that it's possible to work longer before retiring. Flight training will financial and mentally cripple you! Debt is evil and will ruin your life. Get a normal job (if you can), live at home, save your pennies and put it into a pension so you can afford Sky tv when you are old and wrinkled ;-)
Oh and to those that will post figures relating to positive news and a possible economic recovery; don't be silly, happy talk will not turn things around!
Pprune economist and spelling/grammar police, do your worst. In all seriousness though, I went to a crap comprehensive school (a whole new topic in itself) so any tips on grammar would be great, only thing I got taught was 'I' before 'E' accept after 'C'.
I'm still smiling. Sorry if I over did the bold!