|
Being a banker doesn't really require a complementary degree. Just a modicum of intelligence/bullshitting ability and the willingness to work obscene hours. And networking.
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 10:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 08:46 |
|
|
Inflation is the reason my parents mortgage seemed like pennies 20 years after they took it out. £5k was worth a lot more in 1971. I would like the real value of my mortgage, its % of my wages, to go the same way. So long as wages keep up, and it doesn't spiral upward, then inflation can be a good thing.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 10:15
|
|
|
Collateral posted:Inflation is the reason my parents mortgage seemed like pennies 20 years after they took it out. £5k was worth a lot more in 1971. I would like the real value of my mortgage, its % of my wages, to go the same way. Would you know, inflation is actually nearly always a good thing? Don't think Zimbabwe, their problems sure as poo poo isn't caused by inflation (it's just a symptom) they're caused by about fifty other serious economic mismanagement issues which has left their capability to pay any debts in question. Think the Weimar Republic. "But didn't hyperinflation lead to the Nazis?!" you say, because you attended schools which taught that? Emphatically no! Hyperinflation was a deliberate economic policy that ended in 1932 (look it up!) that allowed the Germans to pull off exactly what you're describing; the Treaty of Versailles was crippling their economy, and would have done so for decades, were their debt obligations not denominated in a currency Germany had a printing press for (good call France!). They traded a few lovely years for long term economic stability and thumbed their noses at their longterm rival: inflation works! There's a reason they could afford to go to war with literally everyone less then a decade later. Inflation makes your exports more attractive, rejuvenating your economy. It reduces wealth inequality because poor people hold debt while rich people are lenders: the rich get poorer and the poor get richer. All this fresh currency allows governments to pay for expansion of social programs further reducing the income gap, reduces the real value of the deficit meaning that paying our debts becomes easier. It slices, it dices, it cleans your loving hubcaps! Inflation is great in a downturn economy! So, lets go back to the 30s in Germany. If it wasn't hyperinflation that was the problem, what was that other thing every party save one was pushing? The policy that enraged the populace, crippled the economy, and allowed the one plucky little party that was arguing against it to gain power, despite the fact they were panto villains without the humanizing comedy? Austerity.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 10:32
|
|
|
Here are two charts that demonstrate the importance of budget deficits and the crippling impact they can have on a nation. First up, America's deficit, 1948-2012:  During this period, America became the world's dominant economic and military power and established one of the highest standards of living for its population of any country in history. It also ran budget deficits more or less continuously. Second, Ireland's 'deficit', 1996-2008:  Holy crap, 10 years of surplus over a 12 year period? Clearly this is a strong and well-run economy that is destined for great things! Amusingly enough, Germany's budget history over the same period is the exact opposite - ten years of deficit spending over 12 years. Which of Germany and Ireland would you say has the stronger economy? LemonDrizzle fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Nov 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 10:35
|
|
|
Collateral posted:I suppose I know the answer to this, but could somebody tell me what qualifies this guy to be a banker? There is a unique blend of intelligence and willful idiocy required in those kinds of jobs. They always say they hire the smartest person, they don't. They hire the person is who is most likely to work full-steam even with horrible hours, least likely to stand up for themselves, yet also not quit in a violent rage 2 months in. You want them to stay long enough that you're not having to replace them continually, but not long enough that there will be a struggle when they get ready to join whatever flavour of management. See also trainee/junior solicitors. About 25% they want to keep, they want everyone else to quit 2-3 years in.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 10:43
|
|
|
LemonDrizzle posted:Here are two charts that demonstrate the importance of budget deficits and the crippling impact they can have on a nation. If you'd like to hear my favorite economist ever, Mark Blyth (a Scottish orphan! How many orphans go on to become economists?) explain this better then I can, hit up his lecture: Austerity: The History Of A Dangerous Idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQuHSQXxsjM edit: elevator pitch from the first five minutes: "Why did I write this book? I wrote this book for the following reason: I got really really pissed off with people with lots of money telling people who don't have any money they need to pay poo poo back" 
CoolCab fucked around with this message at 10:49 on Nov 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 10:43
|
|
|
CoolCab posted:the Treaty of Versailles was crippling their economy, and would have done so for decades, were their debt obligations not denominated in a currency Germany had a printing press for (good call France!). Except the currency specified by the treaty of Versailles was the "Gold Mark", not the paper one. To prevent exactly what you're describing.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 11:36
|
|
|
Undead Hippo posted:Except the currency specified by the treaty of Versailles was the "Gold Mark", not the paper one. To prevent exactly what you're describing. Sorry, oversimplification, but not inaccurate. quote:Because reparations were required to be repaid in hard currency and not the rapidly depreciating Papiermark, one strategy Germany employed was the mass printing of bank notes to buy foreign currency which was in turn used to pay reparations. This greatly exacerbated the inflation rates of the paper mark.[8][9] e: What's needed to prevent this behavior is removing their printing press: a government with one (and with an economy/government that is more credible then Zimbabwe) can always print their way out. The actual "solution" is a unified currency, and when I say "solution" I mean "awful, awful cross to bear on struggling economies". See Greece. CoolCab fucked around with this message at 11:45 on Nov 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 11:41
|
|
|
LemonDrizzle posted:Here are two charts that demonstrate the importance of budget deficits and the crippling impact they can have on a nation. I'll have to respond to you both properly when I'm not in work, as I can't see images or youtube videos, but I'm not sure America is a good example to use. They're uniquely able to maintain a deficit due to the dollar being the global reserve currency. I suspect their position as the dominant economic and military power probably had more to do with geopolitical factors than the fact they were running a deficit! i.e. they are able to be a superpower despite, not because of, an imprudent fiscal policy. Likewise for Ireland - a property bubble/bank bailout caused the economic crash over there - it wasn't caused by the budget surplus, and the government running a budget surplus is simply a consequence of tax receipts. A budget surplus in a property boom is more prudent than the opposite - are you suggesting it would have been better for the Irish government to have cut taxes or increased government spending, further increasing the boom? Far better to have the historic surplus available to help clean up the mess. Admittedly without reading any of the background quote:Countries whose imbalances provoked financial crisis, such as Sweden and Finland in 1991 and South Korea in 1997, operated deficits of less than 4 percent of GDP. (Mann, 1999; Weller, 2004) Assuming that quote is right, deficits have caused financial crises before. Prince John fucked around with this message at 11:49 on Nov 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 11:44
|
|
|
Prince John posted:I'll have to respond to you both properly when I'm not in work, as I can't see images or youtube videos, but I'm not sure America is a good example to use. They're uniquely able to maintain a deficit due to the dollar being the global reserve currency. I suspect their position as the dominant economic and military power probably had more to do with geopolitical factors than the fact they were running a deficit! Well we're both arguing from variants on the Keynesian school, which has the advantage of being, um, accurate, and what we use when we're in economic turmoil to prevent recessions from turning into depressions. You can find economists from variants on the Austrian school who will argue the opposite, which is what we use in times of plenty to prevent rich people from paying very much taxes (and, in the long term, to further give credibility to the Keynesian school  ).
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 11:51
|
|
|
Jedit posted:BT Infinity is actually very solid if you can get it, and I've never had a problem with support. Never ever BT, seriously.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 12:53
|
|
|
Prince John posted:I'll have to respond to you both properly when I'm not in work, as I can't see images or youtube videos, but I'm not sure America is a good example to use. They're uniquely able to maintain a deficit due to the dollar being the global reserve currency. I suspect their position as the dominant economic and military power probably had more to do with geopolitical factors than the fact they were running a deficit! i.e. they are able to be a superpower despite, not because of, an imprudent fiscal policy. Also, the claims made in that paper you cited are ridiculous; Sweden's problems in the early nineties had nothing to do with government spending and everything to do with private debt. Thailand was the same only with the added complication of a currency peg.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 13:31
|
|
|
LemonDrizzle posted:They're not unique. Again, Germany has been enthusiastically deficit spending for years without harming its overall competitiveness or economic strength, as have France, the Netherlands, various smaller western european countries, and Australia. Canada also spent most of the postwar period doing deficit spending without turning into an economic basketcase. A country's deficit has very little bearing on the strength or sustainability of its economy, or its ability to provide a good quality of life for its citizens. Debt (national or personal) is neither intrinsically good nor intrinsically bad; it becomes a problem if you can't service it or spend it on stupid things, but most countries (including the UK) spend their money pretty well for the most part and can comfortably make their payments, so where's the problem exactly? How would you explain Germany's about turn into admonishing other states for deficit spending? Is it a case of 'do as I say, not as I do', or a change in policy, or something else?
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 13:59
|
|
|
Pesmerga posted:How would you explain Germany's about turn into admonishing other states for deficit spending? Is it a case of 'do as I say, not as I do', or a change in policy, or something else? Despite the argument presented (which might be a little iffy, I'll have to read in more detail) Germany has an institutionalised fear of inflation (possibly due to distortions of the interwar period or elements like high rates of home ownership and low personal debt). This was made central to the Euro central bank as well, so if the only economy options being presented as acceptable were inflation or austerity then they wouldn't consider that a choice at all.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 14:17
|
|
|
Pesmerga posted:How would you explain Germany's about turn into admonishing other states for deficit spending? Is it a case of 'do as I say, not as I do', or a change in policy, or something else? Germany is flying flat in the face of the IMF on the PIIGS economies with their austerity measures; they aren't working and they're causing shitloads of economic damage. Germany's economy is actually kind of weird; they have the infrastructure and talent to make very attractive exports (particularly cars) so they want a slight inflation so they can keep their BMWs and submachine guns competitively attractive to the world. However, they really, really don't like printing money, and also don't seem to fully grasp crippling their major trade partners, like the PIIGS, is going to bite them on the rear end eventually. Also all their roads and bridges and infrastructure are falling apart because of austerity, so how sustainable this voodoo economic model is: who can say? edit: point being the PIIGS aren't going to pull a factory that makes luxury cars out of their asses, Germany's model won't work there. Greece ain't selling enough olive oil to negate their economy dying.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 14:17
|
|
|
Jack the Lad posted:Never ever BT, seriously. Might be showing my ignorance here but what makes BT particularly awful? I've never had any problems with BT Infinity, though there could be wider issues I'm missing.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 15:01
|
|
|
Literally any provider can vary from awful to amazing depending on your location. Location is more important than provider in terms of net quality imo. I use TalkTalk and they've been very good so far.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 15:22
|
|
|
I will always recommend Zen (zen.co.uk). Been with them for almost ten years and never had a complaint, and switching tariff is super easy as you're on month to month contract (with ADSL, Fibre is a 12month contract currently). HortonNash fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Nov 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 15:40
|
|
|
Plusnet has been great for us; Fiber on BT's backbone without actually dealing with BT.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 15:48
|
|
|
the problem with deficit spending is not really the pure economics, but that dysfunctional deficit spending and functional deficit spending is not easy to distinguish
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 16:20
|
|
|
Crameltonian posted:Might be showing my ignorance here but what makes BT particularly awful? I've never had any problems with BT Infinity, though there could be wider issues I'm missing. Their customer service is just absolutely the worst imaginable. When I was having our BT Business Infinity installed, the order was cancelled without notification twice - only because I was continually calling them to check on the progress of our order and monitoring it online was disaster averted. I dealt with no fewer than 9 different people trying to get everything sorted, not including engineers, of which there were for some reason 3, including on one occasion a guy who turned up without an appointment and wandered around aimlessly not knowing what he was there for, where the DSLAM box was, my name or the name of the company. On two occasions since, our internet has been cut off in the middle of the working day without notification. When I called them, I was told it was due to an unpaid invoice. On both occasions, the invoice had been issued less than a week previously and was not due for payment. On both occasions they turned our service back on when I explained this to them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 16:26
|
|
|
Virgin's quite good.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 16:46
|
|
|
I'm with Sky it's only a tenner a month (if you exclude the landline rental).
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 16:51
|
|
|
Jack the Lad posted:Their customer service is just absolutely the worst imaginable. My sister had BT Infinity installed at her house and it took three engineer visits, left her without a working landline for days, the first engineer got really angry and aggressive with her, and another disappeared mid-job after disconnecting her phone line at the box on the street. She complained directly to the chief executive and they've now given her some ridiculous amount of credit because of the way she was treated.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 16:54
|
|
|
We use BT because they are the only company that provides internet in the village we live in. When everything is working it's fine (though more expensive than TalkTalk was for phone and internet) but we had a problem with the router cutting off internet to the machines that are connected wirelessly and the technical help service was poo poo. My husband fixes computers for a living so he did whatever people do to check what the problem was and decided the router was hosed, called up and the technician guy checked that he could bounce a signal off the router or something that I didn't quite catch and said that the router was fine because it worked if machines were plugged into it. Which it did - my husbands PCs internet was fine - but that's not much use for the ten or so other devices that couldn't be. We had to call up customer service and tell them we were going to cancel our contract to get a new router. They did tie us into another years contract to get it but seeing as there's no other provider it's not like we would have had any choice anyway.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 16:57
|
|
|
Rolled Cabbage posted:There is a unique blend of intelligence and willful idiocy required in those kinds of jobs. They always say they hire the smartest person, they don't. They hire the person is who is most likely to work full-steam even with horrible hours, least likely to stand up for themselves, yet also not quit in a violent rage 2 months in. You want them to stay long enough that you're not having to replace them continually, but not long enough that there will be a struggle when they get ready to join whatever flavour of management. See also trainee/junior solicitors. About 25% they want to keep, they want everyone else to quit 2-3 years in. Lol well thats complete loving bollocks re: solicitors at least. They spend approx 200K on your training up until qualification and you're a drain on firm resources until about 3 years PQE for a city firm. If there's any hint you'll flake out they definitely will not offer you a training contract. You put in the hours and stuff, sure, but its not like firms are looking for people they can just hire and fire. Edit: Source for 200K figure: Salary for first two years - approx 75K total Maintenance for studies - approx 15K total Paying for fees - approx 30K total (depends on institution and how much you have left to study) Payment PQ (post qualification) - 50K+/year for 3 or so years until you're profitable as an individual. Lord Twisted fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Nov 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 16:57
|
|
|
Pissflaps posted:I'm with Sky it's only a tenner a month (if you exclude the landline rental). We're on Sky and they are great. Fast and reliable connection, effective and informed customer service, reasonable prices.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 17:11
|
|
|
EDIT: Wrong thread
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 17:27
|
|
|
So I knew we were an American vassal state but I didn't realise we had a vote?
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 17:28
|
|
|
Obliterati posted:So I knew we were an American vassal state but I didn't realise we had a vote? They weren't paying attention and accidentally clicked "Demand Annexation" on our diplo menu
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 17:43
|
|
|
Pesmerga posted:How would you explain Germany's about turn into admonishing other states for deficit spending? Is it a case of 'do as I say, not as I do', or a change in policy, or something else? "Do as I say, not as I did." Merkel's been big on talking about spending sustainably and not repeating the mistakes of the past in Germany as well as in other countries.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 18:00
|
|
|
CoolCab posted:Renegade called it, Cameron's bluff, not Merkels. Yeah the IMF is conservative in that it is a capitalist institute but it exists to ensure economies remain strong. It's not a "nice" institution by any means but it doesn't support the robber barony and leaching of the economy in order to throw money at friends and contacts that the Tories are all about. They really aren't allied in any way.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 18:44
|
|
|
The IMF is more interested in protecting foreign investors than local economies that's why they push liberalisation , austerity and privatisation.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 18:53
|
|
|
How does it compare to the World Bank in terms of "nice"?
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 18:56
|
|
|
The world bank is the nicer one, I'm not sure how much nicer but they had Stiglitz as Chief Economist for a while and he's one of the most influential modern Keynesians E: He really does not like the IMF and they don't like him either.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 19:00
|
|
|
I think sometimes the expression Kafka-esque is overused, but it really seems applicable in this case: - http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/03/dwp-benefits-electrician-work-placement-labour The Guardian posted:DWP orders man to work without pay for company that let him go Incredible - a paid workforce of 39 staff, and 16 on workfare. I wonder, should workfare not exist, how many additional paid staff the company would require...
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 20:00
|
|
|
I wonder if the DWP adviser involved in this placement had the balls to suggest that it would provide him with a confidence boost and vital work experience, like how they usually sell it. In any case, I'm sure Iain Duncan Smith is hard as a rock right now.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 21:09
|
|
|
If anyone needed more evidence that bankers should be fired into the sun  quote:"As a student I worked in an up-market East Asian restaurant in London's Square Mile — the financial heart of the city. Our prices were ridiculous, and so we almost exclusively served bankers. One night, the Royal Bank of Scotland had hired out the whole restaurant to celebrate their end of financial quarter or some such bullshit. The party was for the head honchos at RBS, so it was attended by old dudes on eye-wateringly huge salaries. http://kitchenette.jezebel.com/the-worst-restaurant-customers-ever-1653919015
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 21:31
|
|
|
quote:At a tribunal on Wednesday, the DWP argued that if the public knew exactly where people were being sent on placements political protests would increase, which was likely to lead to the collapse of several employment schemes and undermine the government’s economic interests. What the poo poo. "If we told people what we were doing they'd demand we stop" has to be the laziest defense I've ever seen. Did anything come of this or can they just not bother to even defend themselves because they know it's consequence free?
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 21:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 08:46 |
|
|
  (Women in Unison are a pretty heavy backer of the Nordic Model amendment to the MSB being debated tomorrow)
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 21:57
|
|
