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ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
 Posted: 06-12-2012 02:27 Post subject: |
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Its a nasty one for the wirking and middle classes, for pensioners, the sick, the unemployed.
| Quote: | Austerity Budget 2012 Key Points and Budget Protest
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/102832
by T
Property taxes, PRSI increases, Children allowance cuts
The key points so far are increases to PRSI working out at about €250 per year per person. Children allowance cut by €10. Property tax set around €500 per year for a Celtic Tiger era house. 10 cents on the pint.
Cuts to electricity allowance and telephone allowance for OAPs. The devil will be in the details.
March to the Dail this evening for the Budget 2012 protest. Image courtsey WSM photo stream
From about 4pm onwards today there was a protest outside Leinster House where a large crowd had gathered.
The PR machinery in the weeks leading up to this budget were constantly warning us it was going to be tough. The idea seemed to make it sound worse so that if it was slightly better than the worse conditions then people wouldn't think it was so bad and hence would be less inclined to complain afterwards. However everyone will be hit and the initial figures suggests it will be anywhere from a minimum of €250 to well over €1000 when all is considered.
Some of the key elements are:
1. Children allowance cut by €10 per month. Drops to €130 from €140.
2. Property tax at 0.18% up to €1m home. For average Dublin home of say €250,000 this is €450 per year. And rate is 0.25% for house valued over €1m
3. PRSI -abolition of the weekly PRSI allowance for workers. Estimated average worker to pay an extra €264 per year
4. 10 cents on the pint of beer, cider and spirits and cigarettes by same. €1 on a bottle of wine.
5. Third level student admin fee currently at €2,250 to rise by €250 pear year for three years. So will be €2500 in Sept 2013, €2750 in Sept 2014 and €3000 in Sept 2015
6. Cuts to electricity allowance for OAPs.
7. Cuts to telephone allowance for OAPs. Reduced by 50% to €9.50 per month
8. Prescription charges for medical card holders from 50 cent to €1.50
9. Cuts to respite care grant by by €325 to €1,375 per annum.
10. No cuts to corporate welfare as the corporation tax will remain unchanged
11. Capital Acquisitions Tax up from 30% to 33%
12. Civil service numbers to be cut by 38,000 to 282,500 by 2014 from a peak of 320,000 in 2008
13. Duration of Jobseeker's Benefit reduced by three months, from a year to nine months
14. Maternity Benefit to be taxed from 1 July 2013
15. Threshold for Drug Payment Scheme increased from €132 to €144 per month. The threshold was €90 only a few years back
16. Motor Tax rates to increase. For 1.0 litre increases €14, up to 1.1 litre by €21, up to 1.2 litre by €23, up to 1.3 litre by €25, up to 1.4 litre by €27, up to 1.5 litre by €29 and so on.
Some key points to note:
Corporate influence: It was reported this evening that Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said Labour’s proposal for a 3 per cent increase in the universal social charge (USC) for those earning €100,000 was rejected on the advice of the multinational sector. -Well what do you know? So who is calling the shots here? Certainly not our "elected" representatives but the corporate sector who have bought have sold politicians for many decades now.-
100 Garda stations to close: Yet the government still finds the money and resources to have a huge Garda and general security presence up at the Gas terminal in Bellanaboy in Mayo to help secure the giveaway of the estimated €540 billion worth of natural gas which was handed over for free to international corporations (e.g. Shell) by successive corrupt politicians from Ray Burke to Bertie Ahern. -Lesson to learn is that government don't really care about crime and people being robbed and assault. They put their money where their mouth is and that is protecting large corporations rob us of our resources and give them huge leeway when they pollute.
Deferral Scheme Allowed for Property Tax = An Inheritance Tax for the poor: According to the Local Property Tax document put out by the government, you will be able to defer payment if you are unable to pay. BUT it says:
Interest will be charged on deferred amounts but at a lower rate (i.e. 4% per annum) than the rate charged in default cases (i.e. 8% per annum). The deferred amount, including interest, will be a charge on the property. Deferred property taxes and interest will have to be discharged on the sale/transfer of the property.
What this really means is that if an OAP has an house and they can't pay then when the house is transferred to their children for inheritance the money will be taken then. For the top 20% of this country this situation is extremely unlikely to occur. However for those nearer the bottom, it means the one chance they might have in their life of getting a few quid will be taken from them and the probability of this will be higher the poorer they are. Now if there is say a person (probably middle aged) caring for a parent who is unable to afford the new property tax and that carer is also not in good financial health and is living at home then when they go to get that home when the parent dies, the state will want its slice and that person is likely to be kicked out of their own family home especially if they don't have the cash to pay. So take an average house in Dublin valued at say €250k -perhaps built in the 1970s. The property tax would be close to €500 per year. After 10 years of deferral, this is not just 10x€500 but accounting for the interest rate would be about €6243. For 15 years it is: €10412. In effect an older person who can't pay ends up effectively transferring that tax burden onto their siblings. But again it must be stressed this situation is only going to realistically affect people already at or below the poverty line. |
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| rynner2 What a Cad!
Great Old One Joined: 13 Dec 2008 Total posts: 20322 Location: Under the moon Gender: Male |
| Posted: 15-01-2013 09:38 Post subject: |
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Conflicting stories today:
| Quote: | British banks admit poor lending decisions, says Lord Green
Britain's largest banks privately admit they are in a “downward spiral” of poor lending decisions and have a "computer says no" attitude to small businesses, according to the former chairman of HSBC.
By James Hurley, and Louise Armitstead
7:27PM GMT 14 Jan 2013
Lord Green, now the Government’s trade minister, told a House of Lords Committee that the rise of so called "casino" investment banking has seen lenders “deskill” their commercial banking businesses, which has led to “extraordinary” lending decisions about small companies being made. Bank bosses “know it’s a problem”, he added.
...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9801406/British-banks-admit-poor-lending-decisions-says-Lord-Green.html |
However..
| Quote: | UK recovery on track, OECD data show
Britain's recovery is on track, with the economy in better shape than any of the world’s other leading nations bar the US, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development.
By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor
5:42PM GMT 14 Jan 2013
The Paris-based think-tank’s latest composite leading indicators (CLIs), which have a good record for predicting changes six months in advance, pointed to “growth firming” in November alongside signs of a “stabilising outlook in most major economies”.
Evidence that the economy is picking up will help counter the bleak news expected next week, when the Office for National Statistics publishes its first estimate of growth for the final three months of 2012.
...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9801175/UK-recovery-on-track-OECD-data-show.html |
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| OneWingedBird Great Old One Joined: 19 Nov 2012 Total posts: 418 Location: Attice of blinkey lights Age: 44 Gender: Female |
| Posted: 15-01-2013 13:48 Post subject: |
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That's how you screw with people's heads... feed them conflicting stories until they can't make sense of a fricking thing.  |
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| Mythopoeika Boring petty conservative
Joined: 18 Sep 2001 Total posts: 8820 Location: Not far from Bedford Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 15-01-2013 20:41 Post subject: |
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| OneWingedBird wrote: | | That's how you screw with people's heads... feed them conflicting stories until they can't make sense of a fricking thing. |
Yeah, this kind of thing happens a lot in the news.
Example: One news report will say the property market is in the doldrums and house prices have fallen. Another news report (citing a different source) will say that house prices have gone up slightly.
The most frequent occurrences of conflicting reports I've seen seem to be about the state of the British economy. Are we being fed shit, in the same manner as the Ministry of Truth in 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' or is it just misleading, crap journalism? |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 30-01-2013 20:24 Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Critique Conference
23 Feb 2013
10.00 am- 5.00 pm
London School of Economics
Why Keynesianism cannot save the system
Speakers:
Hillel Ticktin - The conflict between the two sections of the bourgeoisie over the return to 19th century capitalism vs Keynesianism
Michael Cox- The conflict between the two sections of the bourgeoisie over the return to 19th century capitalism vs Keynesianism
Savas Matzas - Greece and Capitalism today
Yassamine Mather - Iran's economy in free fall
St Clements Building
London School of Economics
critique@eng.gla.ac.uk
http://critiquejournal.net/conf2013.html |
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| Cavynaut Skoumed!
Usually tired. Joined: 10 Apr 2003 Total posts: 1961 Location: Crouch Wailing. UK. Age: 56 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 14-03-2013 17:06 Post subject: |
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The "unacceptable face of capitalism" grins again!
| Quote: | The Bank of England warned on Thursday that the next phase of the UK's six-year financial and economic crisis may be triggered by the collapse of debt-laden companies bought by private equity firms in the boom years before the crash.
In its latest quarterly bulletin, Threadneedle Street said the need over the next year to refinance firms subject to heavily leveraged buyouts posed a systemic threat.
The Bank added that it would use its new role as the watchdog of the City to monitor private equity deals in future "episodes of exuberance" to prevent a repeat of the debt-driven takeover boom in the run-up to the banking crisis.
"In the mid-2000s, there was a dramatic increase in acquisitions of UK companies by private equity funds," the Bank said.
"Many of these buyouts, especially the larger ones, were highly leveraged and the increased indebtedness of such companies poses a risk to the stability of the financial system – a risk that is compounded by the need for companies to refinance debt maturing over the next few years in an environment of much tighter credit conditions."
Noting that there had been a surge of private equity deals in the first six years of the last decade, the Bank said a feature of the investments had been the use of debt. Buyouts were typically financed by money borrowed from banks, with the debt becoming the liability of the purchased company.
There was evidence, it said, that private equity companies had been particular beneficiaries of "forbearance" by commercial banks – the tendency of lenders to go easy on borrowers for fear that they might go bust. But it said a refinancing challenge was looming in 2014, because the peak in debt issuance was in 2007 and the average maturity of leveraged buyout debt is seven years.
Deals became bigger and bigger as the decade wore on, and this trend coincided with a loosening of credit conditions by banks, which made debt finance even more attractive as they vied for business.
The study cited the case of Royal Bank of Scotland, now 83% owned by the taxpayer after being rescued from collapse by the Treasury in October 2008. An aggressive expansion into leveraged finance was an important factor in RBS's credit losses, Threadneedle Street said.
Owners of private equity companies say the buyouts help to make companies more efficient by spurring management to provide regular interest payments on the debt.
But the Bank said there were also potential downsides to private equity, including the risk that the pressure for short-term returns would starve companies of long-term investment.
"A consequence of the increased use of debt financing on buyouts in the mid-2000s was that debt to earnings ratios, in particular on deals in excess of £100m, climbed to persistently high levels.
"One risk to the UK financial system from these debt levels is the heightened fragility of the corporate sector. Specifically, higher debt levels could make companies less likely to undertake long-term investment if that investment is crowded out by the costs of servicing debt."
In a separate article in the bulletin, the Bank said it would expect to make a profit on the purchase of gilts under the £375bn quantitative easing programme unless the announcement that the scheme was to be reversed triggered a big rise in long-term interest rates.
The Bank has been making money on its gilt purchases since QE began in early 2009 because the price of government bonds has risen.
When the time comes for QE to be reversed, the Bank expects the fall in bond prices to push up yields – a measure of the cost of borrowing – on gilts.
Work by the Bank's economists has shown that the state would still make a small profit on QE if yields on 10-year gilts rose from 2% to 5% but there would be a £5bn loss if they increased to 6%. |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/mar/14/private-equity-financial-crisis-bank-of-england |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 05-08-2013 14:13 Post subject: |
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| rynner2 What a Cad!
Great Old One Joined: 13 Dec 2008 Total posts: 20322 Location: Under the moon Gender: Male |
| Posted: 09-08-2013 10:09 Post subject: |
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Count the ways the credit crunch changed our lives
From a worsening of the nation’s teeth to an improvement in its lofts, we investigate the bizarre reordering of our universe after six years of austerity Britain
By Harry Wallop
8:34PM BST 08 Aug 2013
Six years ago today, the high summer of economic prosperity ended with an horrific bang. On August 9 2007, BNP Paribas, the giant French investment bank, stopped investors withdrawing their money.
It was the start of the credit crunch and “the day the world changed”, according to Adam Applegarth, chief executive of Northern Rock, which just a month later caused the first bank run in Britain for 150 years.
We all know what happened next. The credit crunch turned into a financial crisis, which morphed into a deep and nasty recession. Businesses collapsed, many of them well-loved favourites such as Woolworths.
If you were lucky enough to keep your job, you probably had to accept a pay freeze. Interest rates were slashed, hitting savers and ushering in an era of uncertainty and austerity.
But a series of reports this week suggests that the economy is finally on the mend – and we’ve a dynamic new Governor breathing life into the Bank of England. It’s a timely moment to examine the 15 most intriguing ways in which our lives have altered since the darkest days.
1. The £10 Friday feast
The microwave had a good credit crunch. When families cut back on the luxury of going out to local restaurants at the weekend, canny supermarkets stepped in to fill their place. Marks & Spencer started a trend with its dine-in-for-£10 deal, and others followed suit. The upmarket ready meal, complete with side dish and bottle of wine – usually eaten while watching a glitzy talent show – is now a staple in millions of middle-class households on a Friday or Saturday night.
....
15. Red lights turned off
Rising rents, falling demand from cash-strapped consumers and higher competition from discount operators and the internet – yes, the high street has had a torrid few years.
And the oldest retail profession of them all has been hit by identical pressures. According to a recent report by Westminster Council, funded by the Department of Health, prostitutes have been forced to cut prices by 50 per cent. Sex sells, just not as well during a recession.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/recession/10230982/Count-the-ways-the-credit-crunch-changed-our-lives.html
Lots of interesting comments follow!  |
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