Actually, "The Rich" Don't Create Jobs

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deleted213967

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I havnt noticed any figures on what markup there is on goods from the price which the original producer got. i suspect that most of the price paid in a store goes to the retailer or middle men, not the manufacturer. Consider the impact if more went to the producer, or indeed the goods were significantly cheaper. This is a massive unproductive overhead of middle men doing nothing useful.

Try swimming to China every time you need to buy something. You will burn calories and ruin the "unproductive overhead" industry and even feed sharks and other marine lifeforms.
 
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dandelion

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"middle men" do provide value to the market, otherwise they would not exist.
What makes you think that?

The producer would love to sell his goods directly to the consumer, but that drastically limits his potential market and drastically adds work/overhead to the production;
I agree that people are needed to distribute goods. My difficulty is that I noticed some figures from Uk supermarkets, which are in the news because they are losing market share to cheaper competitors. Not cheaper on quality, cheaper by cutting their overheads. I strongly suspect -the example proves- there is huge profit taking in the supply chain which is completely unnecessary if it was organised more efficiently. In reality, the Uk retailers have got into their heads we are willing to pay mre for added service than we really are. in part this is due to the lack of real competition in many markets. eg, half a dozen established chains of supermarkets which do not really compete, because it is not in their interest to do so. Their aim has been to drive up prices, not down.

As another example I see ebay selling goods directly from chinese manufacturers, or chinese retailers, which are then being sent to the Uk on a one-off basis yet still being cheaper than buying the identical item from Uk companies. Cut out those middle men.

The producer sells wholesale.

The distributor takes stock and delivers to retail outlets.

Retail outlets provide product to the public. The retailer typically has the largest overhead (store, warehouse, staff, etc.) and thus marks up prices the most.
ebay. amazon.

Each of these people play an important role in getting product to the consumer. Each part of the supply chain tries to be most efficient, make the most money, without scaring their customers away...
If the chinese can supply direct without the massive savings of deliver in wholesale lots, there is vast wastage in the system. I'd agree that one distribution centre within the Uk would make sense, but then that is exactly the amazon model.
 
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798686

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The reason we have to cut back to 35% of GDP in terms of public spending, is to try to tackle the huge debt, and spending commitments that Labour left us with.

The Tories are the party of cuts - partly because they always have to clean up the mess Labour leaves behind (and also because they believe in, slightly, smaller government).

Labour is the generous party, since they spend all the money the Tories have saved - bankrupt the nation, then it all starts over again. #viciouscycle

I am, however, slightly worried about Osborne's plan to boost the property market and grow along with housing prices - and I'm sure Dandy would agree on this - isn't this a bit ill-advised, and likely to lead to yet another, more severe, housing bubble boom n bust?

Easier rules to build on private sector land is a slight change in the right direction tho.
 
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deleted213967

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The reason we have to cut back to 35% of GDP in terms of public spending, is to try to tackle the huge debt, and spending commitments that Labour left us with.

The Tories are the party of cuts - partly because they always have to clean up the mess Labour leaves behind (and also because they believe in, slightly, smaller government).

Labour is the generous party, since they spend all the money the Tories have saved - bankrupt the nation, then it all starts over again. #viciouscycle

I am, however, slightly worried about Osborne's plan to boost the property market and grow along with housing prices - and I'm sure Dandy would agree on this - isn't this a bit ill-advised, and likely to lead to yet another, more severe, housing bubble boom n bust?

Easier rules to build on private sector land is a slight change in the right direction tho.

Alas! Another housing bubble is in formation here too, my dear conservative faraway friend.

The federal government is relaxing lending standards as if 2008 never happened, and the NYT reported that lax "make value" appraisals are back.

We can't blame Bush or Evil Markets for this. This is the vilest form of Crony Capitalism.
 

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Alas! Another housing bubble is in formation here too, my dear conservative faraway friend.

The federal government is relaxing lending standards as if 2008 never happened, and the NYT reported that lax "make value" appraisals are back.

We can't blame Bush or Evil Markets for this. This is the vilest form of Crony Capitalism.

Oh it is? Wait, weren't republicans pushing for this?

Edit: I gotta double check but i thought i read about republicans trying to jump start the same stuff that caused the housing bubble to begin with.
 

Jason

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Alas! Another housing bubble is in formation here too, my dear conservative faraway friend.

I don't know (none of us do) but I think probably not.

The old system in the UK was that 3x or 4x an average salary would buy an average home. We're now at 10x to 20x depending on the part of the UK. The correlation between wages and home prices is broken. We have to understand what is driving house prices in order to know whether it is or isn't a bubble.

I'm inclined to think that we're seeing the effects of old fashioned supply and demand. Supply is limited (even Labour's most ambitious building scheme is a drop in the ocean). Demand is rocketing up.

So where does this leave us? I look at astronomic UK house prices and think they are so high that surely they must fall. Then I hear the idea that in real terms they will double in the next decade and find myself nodding to the inevitability that the market will push prices up. The tweaks Osborne has introduced lubricate the market somewhat. If this helps the market do what it would do in time anyway then this helps our economy somewhat.