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meatcleaver -> RE: The Greatest American failing (3/25/2008 2:53:28 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Politesub53
Surely big money affects us all, worldwide. Sub-prime being a fine example. The Banks lend to everyone. Someone buys a house and pays a construction guy to refurbish it. The money markets crash, in this case due to poor lending practices, and everyone suffers. The house owner, the construction worker, the wholesalers the construction worker dealt with.
Its just one big catastrophe passed down the line, all begun by poor regulations. Big business was lending money without worrying about safeguards, as they couldnt forsee a crash.
The UK is far more exposed to current events in America because the UK since Thatcher has been modelling its economy on the US economy, encouraging growth through borrowing and consumer spending and house ownership, lowering job security and introducing short term contracts. There is a sort of economic cognitive disonnance going on between borrowing large amounts of money for consumer spending and having less job security. Every since the Thatcher Me, Me, Me revolution, Britain we are told is getting richer, yet the poor get poorer, the rich get richer and more and more social problems appear. Yet, Britain's European neighbours on the whole still out perform Britain in many respects, providing better education, health care, better transport infrastructure, more job security, less consumer borrowing and less social problems all round. There is less and less difference between the US and Britain because Britain is copying the US economy and has embraced the cult of the individual itself, to the detriment of people's well being. Britons being the most disatisfied and over worked nation in western Europe for little return. It is not for nothing so many indigenous Britons are abandoning ship and emigrating to continental Europe and further afield. The encouragement of private greed and me, me, me, has created a rather ugly country.
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