I’m not sure you have fully bought into the government’s philosophy yet. I detect a whiff of suspicion about the honesty and motives of politicians.

However, I suspect that you are right when you say that economic improvements happen despite the politicians - the one thing that always worries me when I think like that though is the effects of unfettered capitalism on the environment and people - the rich always seem to get much richer, the poor poorer, and the environment suffers in the short and long term.

Like it or not without the rich entrepreneurs most of us wouldnt have a job . Doesnt mean they are all nice ladies or gents mind.....Phillip Green comes to mind for some reason. I used to chauffeur the rich and famous around the country , many were very nice people and were a pleasure to be in the company of , others not so . They were definitely all driven and couldn't take their foot off the gas , as for holidays and families, let's just say I'm glad its them doing it and not me .
Have to say after four years of being in that world its definitely not for me , dont care how money or how big the houses are...........

Look-up Pareto Distribution which explains the natural trend that a large portion of wealth is held by a small fraction of the population. The Theory even has the attributed scientific formula of: F(x) = 1 – (k/x)α

It is the Natural Law of Economics, which cannot be avoided – not even (especially) by any political socialist ideology.

The psychologist, Prof Jordan Peterson, has a good stab at explaining the phenomenon here: The Scary Truth About Success & Wealth Distribution

Happy New Year!
bier

Getting almost back to what this site is supposed to be about, has anyone visited a place with a planned or otherwise mucked about with economy that was doing well?

My first ever motorcycle trip was to the DDR. It was as close as you could get to time travel, 1953 in 1989.

I'd rather have the 80/20 rule applied to US levels of wealth than go 50/50 on East Germany's (not that it happened, you just got the 80 by playing a different game).

I work with a lot of "achievers".Company CEO's and occasionally politicians. Some are nice, some less so. Some are hacked off they will be the richest men in the cemetery, some enjoy what I call work and would do it for free, some have achievable plans where they will get to tell people where to shove the keys to the executive washroom and go live on their vineyards with their horses and record collections.

Regardless of views, best wishes for a happy and safe new year.

Andy

Three wheels.....yup that sounds pretty much like my old clientele. Best quote I ever heard was from a football chairman I drove around.....socialism is a great idea as long as someone else pays for it . Personally I'm happy being in the rank and file......I wouldn't be prepared to risk all to be super rich . Cant spend what I've got anyways .

Neither can I. Fortunately I am married so that takes care of that. (To be fair to her she earns more than me at the moment).

Ha same here too , not always the case though . Still she is the financial brains not me.......fortunately she love to travel and as long as it has a roof or part of then that's ok to sleep in . Our last trip away.....remember those ....involved the back roads of Bosnia, it meant longer in the saddle but she loved it . Still prefers to fly to the nearest airport mind ..... pretty good compromise imho .

SWMBO here is not keen on riding pillion on a motorbike and has no desire to travel alongside me on her own bike - she would have to learn to start with. However, I suspect she will, along with the kids, join me at interesting places like Petra, Egypt, Zambia, Malawi etc.

Or a misquote from Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” The irony being that her deregulation of the banks led to the 2008 crash, where a few people got very rich at the expense of the rest of us who paid for it. And the present crisis, under a government that is definitely not socialist, where the UK National Debt has risen to its highest ever peacetime level, having increased daily since they took over from Labour. Oops.

Capitalism: A few are very rich, everybody else is poor.
Communism: Nobody is rich, everybody is poor, but nobody starves.
Socialism: A few are quite wealthy, but nobody is poor.

Capitalism in Monty Python speak:

Peasant 1: Who's that there?
Peasant 2: I don't know... Must be a king...
Peasant 1: Why?
Peasant 2: He hasn't got shit all over him.

Alternatively these definitions cover the complete economic spectrum. If anyone's having a bad afternoon I'll mention they're posted for their humour content not their political orthodoxy.


Communism: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and gives you part of the milk.

Socialism: You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.

Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes both cows and sells you the milk.

Nazism: You have two cows. The government takes both your cows, then shoots you.

Bureaucracy: You have two cows. The government takes both of them, shoots one, milks the other, then pours the milk down the drain.

Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one of them and buy a bull.


There's an expanded version of two cow ideologies in the link below if you're desperate to know the difference between, for example, American Corporate Capitalism and British Representative Democracy -

WORLD IDEOLOGIES EXPLAINED BY REFERENCE TO COWS

The article missed the Kulakisation under Stalin.

You have two cows - you are a Kulak and must be killed.
You kill your cows - you are no longer a Kulak, but starve to death.

doh

I have lost a pair of glasses that I had just repaired. They are either in the garden buried under a load of logs or in the pile of debris waiting to be burnt - or in the house having been put “somewhere safe” or in the workshop. I really hope they aren’t in the workshop as it is going to be harder to find them than either the garden or house - not that my workshop is disorganised, much.....

Due to realising more and mor that I am forgetful as time goes on - not senile, just realising that for important stuff I am forgetful but trivia I have a great memory - I have a couple of spare pairs. I am looking again at laser surgery or lens replacement but I don’t like the cost benefit ratio enough at the moment to go fo it.

Hurumph.