Anything Political

[Brew 5,408]

2 hours ago, Rob.L said:

Deloitte, the very consultants who got hundreds of millions in contracts to, er, run Test & Trace.”

 

A little disingenuous  this, but then again it is Private Eye...

 

Deloitte did NOT run the test and trace, they were part of it but not the sole provider. The company were heavily involved with the digital side and various other things but running the sites and all that entails is not what they do apart from some initial trials. They employed about 1000 staff who did things such as programming and sourcing vaccination sites like pub car parks and recreation grounds - all of which had to be paid for.

 

Quote from their website:

 

Deloitte does not run test sites, nor does it conduct swab tests at testing sites - that’s where other partners on the programme come in. Other providers also manage the set-up, running and operations of the Lighthouse Labs, the reporting of individuals’ test results and run the contact tracing programme.

 

One major problem with T&T is down to the users, 75% of the kits were not returned, millions of kits that had to be paid for but were never used or not returned and are now probably out of date and must be discarded.

 

From the Birmingham Mail:

 

Mr Bailey (Cons MP) told Birmingham Live: "The findings of this report make for sobering reading, not least due to the amount of tax payers money allocated to the Test and Trace programme over a period of two years – a staggering £37 billion.

"What is also concerning is that only 96 million of the 691 million lateral flow device tests distributed, have been registered – that is a mere 14%.

 

So who's really at fault for it not working as it should?

[DJ360 6,721]

Jim, I thought I said that I did not and could not condone fraud.  The point I am making is that the Tories, and others are desperately trying to re-define arguably bigger crimes, as not only 'not fraud', but also 'acceptable'.  That is my major issue.

 

Anyway, we can go around in circles so:

I thought you might be interested in this thread about 'Modern Monetary Theory'  We've discussed the true nature of public borrowing in the past and whilst I'm no expert, I am convinced that the standard 'household' model is totally inappropriate when discussing public borrowing..and spending.  MMT basically turns that old stuff on its head and argues that Govt must create, and spend money first, before it can tax it. I think that ties in with arguments I've heard previously that money, in effect, simply represents debt. Govts do not need to borrow in order to spend.  They just need to spend.  Similarities to Keynsianism clearly, but I believe it goes further.  That's about the limit of my present knowledge but I'm attracted by this thinking, if for no other reason than the old thinking clearly has never worked.  This is no magic money tree, and there are limits.. but I do believe it is worth exploring.

 

https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/the-fight-for-the-nhs-mmt-economics.260713/unread

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory

 

I do appreciate that this stuff is a bit headache inducing.. but it is also quite refreshing..insofar as I understand it presently.. and moves on a bit from the 'standard' stuff I picked up at Uni.

 

[benjamin1945 16,139]

This Yorkshire cricket so called scandal has gone too far.........they are dragging things up that were said even decades ago............i would reckon that every county could be accused of the same things....yet Yorkshire are the only one being penalised..

Not that any should be.......the things said back then were normal...when will we stop persecuting ourselves....read somewhere that the current England team only has 3 or 4 actual 100 per cent Englishmen in it........even the captain is Irish.......

             We really are racist..........ain't we............. 

 

 

 

 

 

[philmayfield 6,115]

I don’t generally go around insulting people to their face but are we really compelled to like everybody under penalty of prosecution? 

[Brew 5,408]

Modern Money Theory is a new name for quite an old theoretical system, another way of finding a complex solution to a simple problem.  Loosely if you have no money don’t borrow just print some more.

 

Spend money to build a widget then tax the widget to recover the cost and generate future revenue. It’s the old circular route of money with a different starting point - deficit spending on steroids.

 

Any state can fire up the presses and print money, anyone can generate digital coins, the big question is where does the value come from?

 

In theory the state ends up with an increase in tax revenues from the new assets without incurring deb -  but…

The most glaring fault I can see is that an unfettered increase in the money supply without sufficient economic growth leads to inflation, even hyperinflation

Were the state to print money to finance projects there will be a risk of a huge surge demand and  when demand outstrips supply we have another known cause of inflation.

 

Germany, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Hungary and possibly France during the Mississippi bubble though that entailed a monopoly.

 

One of the mechanisms to control inflation is tax but if public spending is creating it then we have the dog chasing its own tail.

 

The arguments for and against MMT are long and complicated but in short it’s not only a theory but also a huge gamble.

 

 

[Brew 5,408]

8 hours ago, benjamin1945 said:

This Yorkshire cricket so called scandal has gone too far..

The sad things is Ben they're winning. An interview about queer representation on  BBC Radio 4 had me frothing at the mouth this afternoon. Pregnant woman/women? Nope it's pregnant person or people... ridiculous!

 

I said to my lunchtime companions ealier, "you can chop bits off or stitch bit's on but you're either male or female". Following a somewhat strained silence I told I can't say that... are they young  trendy liberals? nope people my age...

 

As Col is wont to say "you can't make it up"

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

I would like to know whether Phil Mayfield has received his womb yet, as part of the levelling up process?  If so, can I have a pair of testicles to suspend from my rear view mirror? 

[philmayfield 6,115]

I have a womb with a view. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Can you see Uranus from there, Phil? 

[Beekay 5,134]

40 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

I would like to know whether Phil Mayfield has received his womb yet, as part of the levelling up process?  If so, can I have a pair of testicles to suspend from my rear view mirror? 

What a load of ******.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

That is my opinion of politics and the scum it attracts, Beekay!

[philmayfield 6,115]

37 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

Can you see Uranus from there, Phil? 

Only if I bend over backwards to please you. 

[Beekay 5,134]

I'm  with you on that one little sis.  

[benjamin1945 16,139]

On 11/11/2021 at 10:15 AM, benjamin1945 said:

This Yorkshire cricket so called scandal has gone too far.........they are dragging things up that were said even decades ago............i would reckon that every county could be accused of the same things....

 

. 

 

 

 

 

 

Just seen the latest news.......this time Essex chairman has resigned....supposedly made Racist comments in 2017,,,,,,just had a quick look at the Essex playing staff........full of non Englishmen....WHO'S NEXT.........

[catfan 14,793]

It's all getting out of hand these days.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

It's just not cricket!

[philmayfield 6,115]

I’ve made many inappropriate comments in the past by today’s snowflake standards. Sadly I’ve got nothing to resign from. 

[Beekay 5,134]

1 hour ago, Jill Sparrow said:

It's just not cricket!

Another load of bails. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

And, in both cases, there's too much spin!

[benjamin1945 16,139]

And not enough Maidens......

[IAN FINN 807]

Its Over.

[Brew 5,408]

Sad to say that in the pursuit of tolerance, intolerance is now mainstream.

 

 

[philmayfield 6,115]

A Chinaman, slow left arm spin, has been banned by Wisden for being offensive. I don't suppose you can get a Chinky takeaway anymore either. Funnily enough Spellchecker just changed Chinky to Chinese!

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

18 minutes ago, benjamin1945 said:

And not enough Maidens.....

Well, I think you may be partially responsible for that, our Ben!

[woody 552]

Political correctness gone berserk. What the purists conveniently forget is that a lot of these expressions were never intended to be derogatory in the first place. It is simply their twisted mentality that finds offence. Given a chance they will destroy the English language and we will simply grunt at each other.