I have to admit that I don't know all the details about the UK debt, but in general the most important fact to keep in mind is that the government is simply not takout out a loan and then hand that money to the banks for free. Instead what happens is that the government makes investments in the banks (and in some cases takes over control of them altogether). These investments are in many cases paid for by increased national debt.
The US bailouts cost taxpayers 21 billion USD, which is much less than the national debt. As far as I know, the main cause of US debt has been the wars.
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Except of course that's not where the majority of the debt came from. But let's not get facts get in the way of politics.
ReplyDeleteThis is doesn't mean that I am in favour of unbounded austerity though.
Where did it come from then ?
ReplyDeleteRhys Taylor that depends on which country you're talking about. Are you referring to Greece?
ReplyDeleteElias Mårtenson No, not Greece, more the UK and the US.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I don't know all the details about the UK debt, but in general the most important fact to keep in mind is that the government is simply not takout out a loan and then hand that money to the banks for free. Instead what happens is that the government makes investments in the banks (and in some cases takes over control of them altogether). These investments are in many cases paid for by increased national debt.
ReplyDeleteThe US bailouts cost taxpayers 21 billion USD, which is much less than the national debt. As far as I know, the main cause of US debt has been the wars.
Of course, the bank bailouts could have been handled a lot better, but it's wrong to state it's the cause of austerity measures. Here's a nice article I came across while googling the subject: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/28/bank-bailout-cost-taxpayers
Elias is, of course, wrong.
ReplyDelete