My first encounter with 'wealth' as a political policy was under the Prime Ministership of Margaret Thatcher in the early 1980's. Wealth became an option which many grasped with enthusiasm, whilst others remained on their proverbial couches and moaned about nasty capitalism; they still do.
Harry Enfield's TV character 'Loads-a-Money' (above) epitomised the era's barrow-boy attitude to the ease of making money. Of course most of today's so-called 'wealth' is down to the crazy rise in property prices, but unless such properties are sold, any such money is purely 'theoretical'.
I'm sure we all know people who are reasonably (or even very) rich on paper, but haven't much either in the bank or back pocket; that's how life has become in Britain's 21st Century.
It's a sad state of affairs that many young professionals find themselves with huge university debts, and can never envisage owning a home of their own. The OAP's have become today's rich, and behind them is an anxious queue of younger relatives desperately waiting for their demise.
There is no question that Margaret Thatcher was the saviour of the UK's economy, but she manifestly failed to put some limit on the constant rise of phone-number salaries and house prices, and it has now spiralled completely out of control.
The UK led the field in ridiculous annual increases in the property market, and Brits have come to see property owning, restoration, and trading, as the easiest way to make 'Loads-a-Money'. Sadly most of the world has now followed suite, and I fear that some serious reappraisal is on the way.
Things go up, but they can very easily go down. Hold your hats, and be prepared to buy gold.
There will be another world-wide recession in 2018, at the latest.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's on its way.
DeleteI've been expecting it for years!!Lucky I was wrong lol
ReplyDeleteMaybe you weren't. It's on its way.
DeleteStick around, you thought the last recession was bad, well you 'aint seen nothing yet.
ReplyDeleteI fear you may be right.
DeleteDon't forget to wave when you go over here.
Dont forget to look skywards at around 2pm, your time.
DeleteWe are certainly much better off than our grown up kids, helped by the fact that both sets of parents died leaving houses to be sold. Unfortunately they were in Leicester so were worth less than half they would be if they were here in SE. I have also been a life long " saver" which helps too.
ReplyDeleteEven though our grown up children have what we would have considered HUGE salaries, many of them still can't afford to buy a decent sized home.
DeleteWe are fortunate to live in one of the very few areas in the UK considered to have 'affordable' housing for first time buyers. My youngest son and his girlfriend are now actively looking for a house. Luckily for them, I have recently inherited a modest sum, which enable me to offer them money for the deposit. If they were in London their combined salary would make this impossible.
ReplyDeleteWe recently put up quite a sum for our oldest's house deposit in N London. Without us I don't know what he'd have done.
DeleteI'm quite puzzled by the obscenely rich and their desire to go on accumulating money and holding onto it. What is the purpose when you can already buy everything that you could possibly want?
ReplyDeleteI've never really had a problem with people being rich, what I don't like is flashy kids with Ferraris, drinking expensive bottles of Champagne in exclusive London clubs, all on Daddy's money.
DeleteI try to rise above (or should that read keep below) anything to do with money. I pay my bills on time, as does the farmer - and we buy what we choose to buy. In my case it is clothes, clothes and clothes (in that order) - in the farmer's case clothes come right at the bottom of the list - hence my chivvying at the moment about some new shirts and trousers for our forthcoming river cruise.
ReplyDeleteLike the farmer, I have to be forced to buy clothes. We need an international branch of Oxfam nearby.
DeleteInteresting statistic heard on the World Service this morning: Of all the developed countries in the world, guess which one has had the lowest wage rises since the first recession? Yes, G.B. The recent 2% average rise will be wiped out by inflation in any case, taking everyone back to square one. I have no problem with very wealthy people - some of them are my best clients. I do have a problem with the way that everything you cannot do without to live - houses, food etc. - has been turned into speculative opportunities for the already wealthy.
ReplyDelete2% sounds very little; I usually hear of nothing but millions being thrown about like confetti. I don't suppose those millions will stop even if there is another major depression.
DeleteAs for your last point, investors have always looked for products that we can't do without.
Re my last point, products which we can't do without have always been guarded and stock-piled by sovereign nations for the sake of national security. Investors have always sought trade with those nations, especially if a siege was on the horizon. This is why stateless Jews were always blamed for the opportunism that modern international speculators are now accused of. We now sell-off family silver to the highest bidder - usually for under half of its worth.
DeleteJust returned from Athens,
ReplyDeleteThe centre life goes on as normal, walk outside area of police control horrific!.
Little children searching in rubbish bins for food!.
Wen,t to a bakery bought bags of round bread things, bags of fruit .sure is no help at all, those children will be raking bins tomorrow!.
Devastating all children are precious!.
Wen,t back to hotel drunk wine and looked at stunning view of Acropolis.
What to do?
Feel a bit like a stupid person from UK , not rich, but won,t starve
Angela who cleaned my room gave me a bunch of herbs
when I left from her flat window!. Precious. Won,t waste them!.
There's real poverty almost everywhere, and in Greece I imagine it'll become even more common. Very sad.
DeleteThere was a program on national geographic channel called Doomsday Preppers. I watched a few programs. It was all about these American families stockpiling food, water, gold, silver and being self sufficient. There featured a good deal of firearms too naturally being in the USA. Though reflecting on it being in a country where there is literally me than one gun per person in circulation I suppose doing all the other things would be pointless with out the means to protect it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I digress. My point was that I, and I suspect most would, regarded them as slightly short of barking mad. Yet here we all are acknowledging that we believe another even larger devastating crash to be lurking around the corner. But how many of us have actually done anything to prepare, even in the smallest way, for such an event?
I'm lucky. We grow some 80 percent of our own food and since we have no loans or mortgage if business dried up tomorrow we'd survive though i would have to make my employees redundant. But it seems to me we all see this juggernaut bearing down upon us yet few actually seem to be doing anything about it. We're all rather like rabbits sat in the fast lane of the motorway.....
R,
ReplyDeleteIt has already happened to those poor families in Athens,
That is europe for gods sake, not a third world country!.
You have blinkers on all Americans can see is America.!.
Kirrie, I'm not American, I'm British and I'm quite aware of the plight of many in Greece including the attempt by the EU to drive Greece into the ground. It has not however hit our shores yet and hopefully a Brexit will help ensure a separating from the collective madness. Greece and its people have been hung out to dry for the EUs inability to turn back illegal immigrants. When heaped upon all their other woes it is the final insult.
ReplyDeleteWhen I bought my first home, a flat, I had saved for years for the deposit, had hand-me-down and secondhand furniture, no holidays, and took an allotment to grow veg etc. I worked in London, a good job for my age. Nothing really changes, except the expectations of many to have the latest TV, phone, good wine etc. You can't have it all - well, not at first anyway!
ReplyDeleteWe are much like you, Ro. We grow a lot of what we eat, and gather even more. If I was prepared to cycle the 7 kms to the nearest shop for bog paper, toothpaste, etc, we could survive on very little.
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