Toys r us and maplin failed

I can see both sides of the coin.
When we joined, the EU was fundamentally operating as the former EEC and we had no idea how the ever increasing laws and regulations would affect our lifestyle. Today we have even gone back to the BS kitemark for medical equipment, since a batch of 100 million condoms imported were discovered to have been manufactured at an eastern European balloon factory and not tested individually. (1 in 10 balloons burst when you blow them up, due to natural dross in latex).
When that terrible fire destroyed Grenfel tower, I jokingly said, "we will have to be searching all over Romania for the surveyor who passed the refurbishment works". Many a true word spoken in jest.!!!!
Few people fully appreciate what a complete shambles the EU really is. The sad part is that we may have given them their long overdue wakeup call, but will not be there to reap the benefits.

 

Italy will be very interesting tomorrow. Many folks are looking for economic black swans but a political one will do. Bunga Bunga man wants revenge because he wanted to take Italy out of the Euro and he was maneuvered out by the EU and Renzi was parachuted in. There was a lot of smell round Dominique Strauss-Kahn when he was setup with the rape of a chamber maid at that NY Hotel.

 

Few people realize the true extent of the problem. Yes, the weaker chains are falling first, but many others are not far behind. This month, both Tesco and Sainsbury's are each shedding more than 1000 staff, with the former ending up with 1 manager to run 3 stores. The later have no staff to run their checkouts at our local store in the evening and dozens of customers are abandoning their full trolleys and walking out. Nat West are also closing hundreds of branches in June, leaving us without a local bank.
At the moment, both the internet engines and freeview television (except the BBC) are entirely supported by advertising. As every retail chain collapses, their revenue drops, so high street shops are not the only areas at risk.
With the constant loss of jobs we are making the human race redundant. I fear that will soon see a recession similar to the 1930s.

 

You are 100% right.

The UK government is bankrupt, if they were a corporation they would be charged with fraud.

 

The human race does not become redundant because old jobs disappear LOL

 

Not when they are replaced with new jobs, but this is simply not happening.
The real problems were in the 1970s when people were able to use computers instead of staff, resulting in increased salaries. These were the people who were responsible for inflating house prices to today's levels, destroying any prospects of our children ever owning a house in London.
I wrote an essay at college, predicting that people would only be working 16 hours a week by the time that I retired. If (maybe assisted by some government legislation) this had happened, the economic balance would be sustainable today.

 

It is an almighty insoluble mess. Have a look at my reply to Asmodean.

 

I'm not talking about just the UK. The human race is bigger than that. We don't need new jobs just to keep people making their hours. That's what the current system needs, but not the human race. I'm sure you can see the logic in that?

 

House prices in the west will collapse by about 50%. When interest rates start rising and liquidity dries up, you will be lucky to sell anything. Back in 2008 it was simply a debt issue and why our elites ever thought that solving a debt issue with more debt then lowering interest rate to make it affordable, is bonkers. Since 2008 there is another 65 trillion of debt in the world. The boomers are retiring which is a 2 edged sword for the government, pensioners stop pay income tax and start collecting a pension from the state. Germany's demographics are terrible, hence Merkel let in those unsuitable refugees so she could turn them in to tax drones\donkeys. Private pension are in very serious trouble. Years ago when they first started selling pensions the bean counters put in a 6 to 8% interest rate into their models. Since ZIRP & NIRP, these pension funds have been taking on water because we have not seen a interest rate like that in over a decade. Also pension funds have to hold a % of sovereign debt; would you like your pension fund to be holding Italian or Spanish bonds? This is going to end very very badly. Remember 1929, currency wars, trade wars them real war. When the folks are losing and the have nothing else to lose, they lose it (2011)

 

House prices in London are crazy. Our house that was bought by my late mother in 1957 for £600 was recently valued a 2 million. I would not shed a single tear if this dropped by 50%, making it possible for our children to own a property before Jane and I pop our clogs.
Many people are unaware that the huge collapse of the banks was simply caused by financial derivative bonds. Based on the futures market, more than 90% of them were underpinned on the expected rise in property prices. When prices dropped for 6 consecutive months. the bonds defaulted, leaving the banks 50 billion pounds in the red. The bonds were dreamed up by a group or nuclear physicists who decided that banking was more profitable than building power stations. They were so complex that none of the banks directors could understand them, let alone see the risk and since they were making money, they were quite happy to let them run.