SlowOne |
21-08-2011 08:22 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by andys
(Post 542843)
Fuel prices are just one part of the misery of honest working folk these days.
Getting a mortgage - if you can afford one.
Getting car insurance - that's a bloody laugh.
Shopping at tesco, food prices are through the roof.
Electric and Gas bills just keep increasing.
30 to 40k Debt for university students.
And the kicker is wages are pretty much what they were a decade ago. Salaries just have not risen to keep pace in most industries.
We / or rather the current generation are in for one he'll of a ride. I really worry for my kids, as it's going to be incredibly tough.
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That is pretty much an exact description of life in the 1960s, except you can knock a nought off the Uni costs, and a nought off the average wage, and it was mainly Sainsbury's in those days. Tesco was to shopping what Lidl and Aldi are today - cheap and about 3% market share. Despite 50 years of so-called progress and technology, things haven't changed much at all, and aren't likely to in the next 50 years. This is capitalism, and this is how it works when it is run by right-wingers. Thatcher and Blair tried to change it - didn't work!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Si Coe
(Post 542949)
Rather than reducing fuel duty (which is just another tax and will get taken off us elsewhere) what needs to be done is some reigning in of the price gouging done by the oil companies.
The price of crude has risen, but the price at the pump rises a lot faster. When the price of crude falls, pump prices don't. If the Government slashed off 10p of tax on a litre, the price at the pump would only fall 8p.
The oil industry makes insane profits, and basically buys itself political safety. Hell - they had the clout to initiate 2 wars in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, which cunningly the tax payer actually foots the bill for.
Unfortunately fuel tax in the UK hides their antics somewhat compared to other countries. The oil companies tend to blame high prices on tax, yet still make literally billions in profit!
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Oil companies make large numerical profits, but as an investment they aren't very good. Your pension and savings are invested in oil companies because they have always made a steady income and are relatively safe. As an individual investor, they don't make much money at all, and very little capital appreciation above the market trends. Lot's of noughts once again, but poor businesses for the investor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bodgit
(Post 542993)
The goverment are charging £3.83 tax on every gallon you buy. Thats £2 more than the companies who have to produce it. On top of this they tax the company who make it, the workers who produce it, the tanker driver who delivers it and then the garges who sell it.
The goverment are the ones making billions for doing sfa. I personally do not begrudge the profits the oil companies make, its the profits the goverment makes that gets my back up.
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Government profits? You're kidding, right? They've made so many losses we now owe £950bn as a country to others, which is costing us £43bn a year in interest. Within four years, it will be double that, 9p in every £ of tax collected, and more than it costs to run the NHS. Government profits? If only... :D
Quote:
Originally Posted by daz
(Post 543061)
Nearly, your'e not entitled to sign on if you quit your work, so I decided to go to work naked for a few days and growling like a dog to all the staff until my bosses decided i was insane. Spent a few weeks in a metal hospice, now my wife gets paid for being my carer and everything else comes out of the tax payers pocket to pay for my re-abilitation and accomadation.
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Brilliant! Wonderful summary of how the system just does not work at all for people who pay in honestly and straightforwardly, but with a little deviousness... :thumbsup:
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