“Britain, though, has so far escaped civil unrest.”
Protestors blocking the roads repeatedly and motorists sitting in the resultant traffic jams, shouting at them and occasionally dragging the odd protestor out of the way. Why are the British so bleedin’ patient, and passive? Is it like the queuing thing?
Yeah probably ensured I avoided doing too many daft things over the years. Gawd knows what I’d do at the front of those traffic queues stopped by protesters.
Aaron James
1 year ago
”In recent days, his Prime Minister and other ministers have been belatedly urging all employers to consider wage rises — on top of the bonuses and the splurge of state-spending to dampen inflation.”
The dreaded ‘Wage – Price Death Spiral.
So to stop unrest from inflation the government is giving in – QE, Wage Rises, subsidizing Billions of fuel costs… Same will happen in USA, and everywhere once unrest begins – called a ‘Pivot’. A death spiral being fed – bad times ahead.
Of course it is. But we are not allowed to say that.
Enter Putin stage left and, viola! The pols have their punching bag.
Howard Gleave
1 year ago
“They spent €100 billion this year and plan to spend another €45 billion in 2023 to keep down the price of petrol, diesel, domestic gas and electricity. France has the lowest inflation rate in the EU — an annual rate of 5.6% in September, compared to 9.9% in the Eurozone as a whole. ”
But as Lichfield goes on to say, this lower inflation rate has been purchased by the state subsidy on electricity and fuel prices, the key drivers of inflation. It all lands on the national debt.
Exactly. The price went up. The inflation happened. They just deferred the bill, changed who will be paying more and manipulated the inflation measure.
Paying down the national debt? Interesting concept. The day is coming when the annual interest payment on the US national debt will exceed GDP. You can’t borrow any more because you can’t pay interest. It’s a roadmap to the Weimar Republic: Print increasingly worthless currency and collapse. Those who fail to heed economics will have economics thrust upon them.
Steve Jolly
1 year ago
What we’re witnessing is the slow-motion train derailment that is the collapse of the post-Cold War neoliberal consensus. In nearly every western nation, the globalists are under siege from both right and left. When faced with civil disorder, and let’s remember the primary purpose of all governments at all levels is to maintain civil order, weak willed politicians will bow to public pressure in order to avoid outright rebellion. These ‘compromises’ will gradually erode the policies that have enabled and empowered the current neoliberal order. At the same time, attending to the immediate needs of domestic populations is likely to be at the expense of international goals like free trade, etc. as the human instinct to ‘take care of our own’, and/or ‘put our own house in order’ overrides all other concerns. The US no longer has the economic power or the political capital to intervene, and a significant portion of Americans are tired of the expenses of being a hegemon falling upon them while the benefits continue to enrich the top 1%. Expect no help from here, as there’s a strong possibility that unless the economy makes a major turn in the next two years, we’re likely to see the return of Trump or someone quite similar in 2024. Moreover, the powerful US military establishment is laser focused on China at the moment and the conflict between the world’s two largest economies will continue at everyone’s expense because there is almost no political pressure outside of big business (who themselves are becoming political pariahs in many corners) in the other direction. The end result of all of this will be a multipolar world characterized by resurgent nationalism, increased tension between nations, and an increased reliance on limited political/economic alliances between individual nations or regional blocs who share economic synergies and similar political objectives.
chris Barton
1 year ago
Majority of British people are wimps and as long as the footie or Corrie street is on will put up with anything while moaning about how nothing changes.
Wrong!! The police treat these protesters like royalty and the “harmed” public like criminals. I only ride a trike thesedays but if any protester tries to stop my freedom of movement they may not live to regret it. The last protest on the QE2 bridge would have been better handled by ignoring them and letting the traffic through. Once the protesters realised that they were wasting their time up there they would go home. If any of them had fallen then that would be a bonus for the geater British public.
Ethniciodo Rodenydo
1 year ago
The author is not form Stoke-on-Trent you know
Bruce Horton
1 year ago
Whenever I contemplate the state of affairs in my country, Canada, I can always count on France to prove that, yes in fact, things could be worse.
I’m also American, but it’s an arguable point. Is true believer Trudeau better or worse than sock puppet Biden? At least Canada doesn’t have to absorb tens of thousands of migrants every day. Perhaps we should start imitating Mexico and sending them north.
“Britain, though, has so far escaped civil unrest.”
Protestors blocking the roads repeatedly and motorists sitting in the resultant traffic jams, shouting at them and occasionally dragging the odd protestor out of the way. Why are the British so bleedin’ patient, and passive? Is it like the queuing thing?
Because not being patient can lead to worse consequences. Rarely does civil unrest result in a good outcome for the populus.
Jeez you sound like my wife Linda, and that ain’t a compliment. (Fortunately she doesn’t read Unherd!)
Your wife seems like an eminently sensible woman.
Yeah probably ensured I avoided doing too many daft things over the years. Gawd knows what I’d do at the front of those traffic queues stopped by protesters.
”In recent days, his Prime Minister and other ministers have been belatedly urging all employers to consider wage rises — on top of the bonuses and the splurge of state-spending to dampen inflation.”
The dreaded ‘Wage – Price Death Spiral.
So to stop unrest from inflation the government is giving in – QE, Wage Rises, subsidizing Billions of fuel costs… Same will happen in USA, and everywhere once unrest begins – called a ‘Pivot’. A death spiral being fed – bad times ahead.
Inflation is cause by printing money. ie. QE
Of course it is. But we are not allowed to say that.
Enter Putin stage left and, viola! The pols have their punching bag.
“They spent €100 billion this year and plan to spend another €45 billion in 2023 to keep down the price of petrol, diesel, domestic gas and electricity. France has the lowest inflation rate in the EU — an annual rate of 5.6% in September, compared to 9.9% in the Eurozone as a whole. ”
But as Lichfield goes on to say, this lower inflation rate has been purchased by the state subsidy on electricity and fuel prices, the key drivers of inflation. It all lands on the national debt.
“It all lands on the national debt”….which eventually causes more inflation as they print more money to “pay” for it.
Exactly. The price went up. The inflation happened. They just deferred the bill, changed who will be paying more and manipulated the inflation measure.
Paying down the national debt? Interesting concept. The day is coming when the annual interest payment on the US national debt will exceed GDP. You can’t borrow any more because you can’t pay interest. It’s a roadmap to the Weimar Republic: Print increasingly worthless currency and collapse. Those who fail to heed economics will have economics thrust upon them.
What we’re witnessing is the slow-motion train derailment that is the collapse of the post-Cold War neoliberal consensus. In nearly every western nation, the globalists are under siege from both right and left. When faced with civil disorder, and let’s remember the primary purpose of all governments at all levels is to maintain civil order, weak willed politicians will bow to public pressure in order to avoid outright rebellion. These ‘compromises’ will gradually erode the policies that have enabled and empowered the current neoliberal order. At the same time, attending to the immediate needs of domestic populations is likely to be at the expense of international goals like free trade, etc. as the human instinct to ‘take care of our own’, and/or ‘put our own house in order’ overrides all other concerns. The US no longer has the economic power or the political capital to intervene, and a significant portion of Americans are tired of the expenses of being a hegemon falling upon them while the benefits continue to enrich the top 1%. Expect no help from here, as there’s a strong possibility that unless the economy makes a major turn in the next two years, we’re likely to see the return of Trump or someone quite similar in 2024. Moreover, the powerful US military establishment is laser focused on China at the moment and the conflict between the world’s two largest economies will continue at everyone’s expense because there is almost no political pressure outside of big business (who themselves are becoming political pariahs in many corners) in the other direction. The end result of all of this will be a multipolar world characterized by resurgent nationalism, increased tension between nations, and an increased reliance on limited political/economic alliances between individual nations or regional blocs who share economic synergies and similar political objectives.
Majority of British people are wimps and as long as the footie or Corrie street is on will put up with anything while moaning about how nothing changes.
Wrong!! The police treat these protesters like royalty and the “harmed” public like criminals. I only ride a trike thesedays but if any protester tries to stop my freedom of movement they may not live to regret it. The last protest on the QE2 bridge would have been better handled by ignoring them and letting the traffic through. Once the protesters realised that they were wasting their time up there they would go home. If any of them had fallen then that would be a bonus for the geater British public.
The author is not form Stoke-on-Trent you know
Whenever I contemplate the state of affairs in my country, Canada, I can always count on France to prove that, yes in fact, things could be worse.
Have you been looking to your immediate south lately?
From my perspective here in the US, as bad as things are here Canada seems a tad worse.
I’m also American, but it’s an arguable point. Is true believer Trudeau better or worse than sock puppet Biden? At least Canada doesn’t have to absorb tens of thousands of migrants every day. Perhaps we should start imitating Mexico and sending them north.
Whaat? Not another one…
Brenda