JohnW wrote:Or down to a line between the Humber and the Mersey
Yep I'd not mind that either....... then I'd be even more scottish . It sounds far fetched but in many respects I think our county level needs would be better satisfied by the scottish government and they are more forward thinking in their policies.
I don't lie there worrying about it but my main concern is inflation of the kind that affected Germany between the wars. Couldn't happen? Let's not kid ourselves. After years of creating monopoly money the conditions are right. Politically, it might be very attractive as a lot of debt and commitments like pensions would shrink. (AFAIK, "inflation proofing" of pensions is limited to 5%. No problem when inflation is stuck at 2-3% but it's not a million years since it was ten times that.
Inflation...great for youngsters, awful for old folk.
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al_yrpal wrote:Inflation...great for youngsters, awful for old folk.
It's how a lot of old folk got their cash. Bought a house, inflation raised their income and house prices whilst reducing their mortgage. Painful in the short term, handy in the long.
al_yrpal, if you think it's hard to get on the proprty ladder now, it would be that much harder with high inflation. It's fine for those who have already bought houses (if they can afford the increased interest), it's awful for those trying to buy houses because the bar for monthly mortgage payments goes up considerably. It might cause an 'adjustment' in property values, but whether that is enough for young people to more easily afford houses?
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.” ― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Vorpal wrote:al_yrpal, if you think it's hard to get on the proprty ladder now, it would be that much harder with high inflation. It's fine for those who have already bought houses (if they can afford the increased interest), it's awful for those trying to buy houses because the bar for monthly mortgage payments goes up considerably. It might cause an 'adjustment' in property values, but whether that is enough for young people to more easily afford houses?
I think getting on the property ladder is just as hard regardless. Any increase in difficulty is short term because house prices fall until they sell at the same rate. So barring buy-to-let pensioners and other ne'er-do-wells cashing in there are benefits. Houses get cheaper and 5 years down the line compound inflation has lifted your earnings whilst leaving your mortgage alone.
(More likely; house prices stagnate because folk are reluctant to sell below market but it's fairly short term because inflation effectively reduces the price anyway).
There's inflation and then there's inflation. One reason that it all seems to be under control at the moment is that wage costs are screwed right down for several reasons. Widespread deskilling has left many with no hope of worthwhile pay increases through labour shortages. Prices have been kept down by imports from cheap labour economies but that isn't indefinite.
If there's oversupply of something, its price tends to go down and currently we have over-supply of money.
Vorpal wrote:al_yrpal, if you think it's hard to get on the proprty ladder now, it would be that much harder with high inflation. It's fine for those who have already bought houses (if they can afford the increased interest), it's awful for those trying to buy houses because the bar for monthly mortgage payments goes up considerably. It might cause an 'adjustment' in property values, but whether that is enough for young people to more easily afford houses?
I am just thinking back to my own experience in the 70s inflation runaway when it was easy to get on the property ladder. Took out a whacking great mortgage, in a few years after massive pay rises (30% pa to keep up with inflation) mortgage payments still the same. More devalued money in your pocket to spend. Meanwhile Auntie Flo's lifetime savings are then worth a fraction of what they were. Never want to go back to those times.
Too much money around? Too right...
Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
I don't know... The impact of high inflation in the 70s USA was that housing prices increased nearly with inflation. Mortgage interest rates were in the teens. Like currently in the UK, housing prices were bouyed by in part by investors buying houses to let them, because the combination of inflation and young people having to rent rather than buy, made buy-to-let extremely attractive, despite high mortgage interest rates.
Of course, the USA dropping the gold standard for currency contributed to the situation, as did the oil crisis. The UK doesn't have either of those, though a new 'oil crisis' could certainly occur, and the UK is, if anything, more vulnerable now than either the US or the UK was in the 70s.
I'm not suggesting that's what will happen, only that it could.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.” ― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Back in the day when we had one, the monthly repayments were high. If you took off two zeros from the mortgage, that was the monthly repayment.
We latterly had a £30grand mortgage. Remove two zeros .............. we were paying £300 per month for it. I was earning about £28,000 a year gross near the end of it.
What's the "normal" mortgage for folk now? £200,000? Can they afford to pay back £2,000 per month? What are they earning a year?
Buy to Let in the UK really got going in 1999, before that only a minority were at it. Now the rich are all buying farmland and forest to avoid IHT and capital gains. Property prices cant fall because the banks will go bust.
Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
When I think about it, it's different forma of creative accountancy such as so called quantitative easing which concern me. As I understand it, quite a large part of the National Debt is now owed to the Bank of England. Monopoly money. Sustained low interest rates mean nobody seems bothered by debt anymore.
This is 2008 all over again. When the music stops playing, none of the banks will trust each other, liquidity will dry up, and there'll be no tap to turn on, because they've run it dry.
Username wrote:By far the most common fear I see in people is of insects, particularly spiders. Nuclear war comes second.
It isnt really a fear of spiders is it? It is a revulsion. I know that a wasp can pack a much worse punch than a spider and has let me feel it a few times, so I show some caution around them. Spiders are pretty harmless and there is one a couple of inches across wandering around the house at the moment, last time I saw it it was lurking on the wall next to the light switch which I normally find by feel in the dark. I am not losing sleep at night over it but the thought of touching it or it walking on me is not really something that I am at all comfortable with to say the least. If it is leaving it is in a beer glass or, as it is possibly too large, in a bowl instead.
. It sounds far fetched but in many respects I think our county level needs would be better satisfied by the scottish government and they are more forward thinking in their policies.
