16 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

Did you not work in the UK when a living wage was the 'norm' for most people??  It was not "mandated".

 

I caught the 'tail end' of this era - and saw how salaries/pensions etc. fell....

 

I agree that this was largely due to the 'gordan gekko/Thatcher' mentality at the time - but a never ending influx of immigrants from poor EU countries didn't help....

Agreed.

The sad truth is

Employers will not pay a living wage while their are cheaper alternatives available.

The 'cheaper alternatives' are always foreign workers from poorer countries, either legal or illegal.

The only way to force a living wage for citizens is to prohibit (mainly) foreign males from working in your country.

10 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Yes, I did. 

 

I was member of a union and any attempts to cut work place benefits were opposed and repelled. 

 

Members of Unions are better paid. 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10860017/Union-members-4000-a-year-better-off-government-report-suggests.html

 

Neoliberalism, boardroom greed and theft under the guise of 'business necessity'  have far more to answer for than immigrants working, paying taxes, buying goods and services and increasing the size of the economy. 

 

 

 

Really?  So how come occupational pensions have been decimated?

38 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

 

 

Really?  So how come occupational pensions have been decimated?

In my opinion (as a former employee elected trustee of a work place pension), the nail in the coffin of pensions was two things:

 

1. A misunderstanding of risk amongst policy makers, very specifically the 'pension debt calculations' attached to the UK Government's pension protection scheme. Essentially a calculation  that minimised risk of the Government ever paying out to protect a pension at cost of loading immediate debts on to employers to cover liabilities that run out over decades. 

 

2. Employers taking 'contribution holidays' over years prior to the economic crash.

 

Absolutely nothing to do with immigrants and immigration.

 

Speculation comes in many forms. Innit?

Most people do not consider themselves active traders in the finance world but their commitment to spending a lot of time overseas potentially exposes them to FX volatility. Most years not an issue, but sitting on one's hands since Brexit sailed into view has proven to have been the worst place to be. Running away from Sterling the better place. Those Brexiteers having had a choice and not exercising it have paid a heavy price to date. Nothing patriotic about losing money. Just a pity that others are being dragged down in the Brexiteer wake.

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32 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

 

 

Really?  So how come occupational pensions have been decimated?

Low interest rates dramatically increases actuarial funding requirements.  It cost my former employer $100'sM more than anticipated over the last couple decades. 

The British Pound Is Starting to Resemble Emerging-Market Currencies

 

The turbulence in the British pound is increasingly resembling gyrations typically seen in emerging markets.

While the U.K. currency is heading for its biggest monthly slump since October 2016 amid growing chances of a no-deal Brexit, its 90-day correlation with a gauge of developing-nation currencies has risen to the most in almost three years.

Given the U.S. dollar’s continued strength and the shared vulnerability to political risks of the U.K. and developing nations, this relationship may get more attention in the weeks to come.

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=GBP&To=USD

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Yes, I did. 

 

I was member of a union and any attempts to cut work place benefits were opposed and repelled. 

 

Members of Unions are better paid. 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10860017/Union-members-4000-a-year-better-off-government-report-suggests.html

 

Neoliberalism, boardroom greed and theft under the guise of 'business necessity'  have far more to answer for than immigrants working, paying taxes, buying goods and services and increasing the size of the economy. 

 

Ok, so that explains your firm grip on reality. I was 37 years a union member. A decade working for my union. Worked my way up to the top elected position nationally. Most satisfying work imaginable. Especially the huge gains we made to our defined benefit pension plan formula. 

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

Did you not work in the UK when a living wage was the 'norm' for most people??  It was not "mandated".

 

I caught the 'tail end' of this era - and saw how salaries/pensions etc. fell....

 

I agree that this was largely due to the 'gordan gekko/Thatcher' mentality at the time - but a never ending influx of immigrants from poor EU countries didn't help....

 

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Yes, I did. 

 

I was member of a union and any attempts to cut work place benefits were opposed and repelled. 

 

Members of Unions are better paid. 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10860017/Union-members-4000-a-year-better-off-government-report-suggests.html

 

Neoliberalism, boardroom greed and theft under the guise of 'business necessity'  have far more to answer for than immigrants working, paying taxes, buying goods and services and increasing the size of the economy. 

 

 

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

 

 

Really?  So how come occupational pensions have been decimated?

 

52 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

In my opinion (as a former employee elected trustee of a work place pension), the nail in the coffin of pensions was two things:

 

1. A misunderstanding of risk amongst policy makers, very specifically the 'pension debt calculations' attached to the UK Government's pension protection scheme. Essentially a calculation  that minimised risk of the Government ever paying out to protect a pension at cost of loading immediate debts on to employers to cover liabilities that run out over decades. 

 

2. Employers taking 'contribution holidays' over years prior to the economic crash.

 

Absolutely nothing to do with immigrants and immigration.

 

I agree to a certain extent that the decimation of occupational pensions and salaries started before the influx of cheap labour from the eu - but the influx of cheap labour certainly didn't help the situation!

 

Incidentally, your last post is pretty much an exact replication of the annual twaddle I receive from my pension providers ???? - so I can well believe that your are a previous 'trustee' of a work place pension! ????

 

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

 

 

You are seriously comparing the brexit vote to the nazis???  ????

I think that it should have been clear that I wasn't.

Firstly you can't compare a vote to a group of people. simples. 

Secondly the writer of the piece (Not me obviously) was DRAWING CERTAIN PARALLELS between the rise of fascism in the 30s, and the rise of populist movements more recently. What a coincidence that these are almost all right wing nationalist movements, Le Pen, Farage, AltfD, Orban, Italy, Trump, and the lunatic theocracy in Poland. 

 

I am not saying that Brexit voters are fascists, in my eyes I see them as the sad victims of conmen, the basic point that the writer of the piece was trying to make.

I will say though that populist voters, including the Brexit voters, have (Unwittingly in large part) helped put neo fascists, or a least leaders from the far right, into power. 

20 hours ago, puipuitom said:

Before you write anything on any Internet blog, first verify :  

 

 

I dont really understand your reply. Are you saying take the rate from after the crash? 

 

what did you verify???? here is web site with some rates

 

https://fxtop.com/en/historical-exchange-rates-graph-zoom.php?C1=GBP&C2=THB&A=1&DD1=01&MM1=01&YYYY1=1979&DD2=31&MM2=07&YYYY2=2019&LARGE=1&LANG=en&CJ=0&MM1Y=0&TR=ON

 

 

 

1 hour ago, pegman said:

Low interest rates dramatically increases actuarial funding requirements.  It cost my former employer $100'sM more than anticipated over the last couple decades. 

I think this is a large part of the key to this pension problem. 

We got an endowment mortgage in the 1980s, and were told that it would pay back the mortgage and give us huge additional revenue when it matured. We ended up having to pay them 1000s just to pay off the mortgage.

SO

1) Expectation of continued high interest rates.

2) Absurdly low contributions and foolishly guaranteed generous pension payouts. (For the State sector in particular.)

3) Failure of all governments to address the looming baby boomer demographic problem, -  it was just too scary, it would cost too much, they might lose power.

4) Stupidly low taxation levels for everyone, albeit the starting point certainly should have gone up.

5) No recognition that if you want to get something you have to pay for it. In countries like the Netherlands you pay lots of tax, and get great pensions.

 

If you took your additional pension contributions you paid on your State job income to an actuary and ask him (Imagining investment over a lifetime of work) to pay you the same occupational pension you get from the State now, he would pi#s himself laughing. That unfunded debt now stands at around 1 Trillion.

 

Having an indexed linked pension on the margins is not going to do anybody living abroad much good if the currency is taking a sufficiently heavy beating. In some respects the horse has already bolted and any Brexiteer selling you the moonshine of a Sterling bounce on the disorderly shambles of no-Deal Brexit should be loudly laughed at.

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On 7/31/2019 at 5:57 AM, darksidedog said:

Not pleasant news, but not unexpected either. I think I, like most Brits are praying that something happens to make Brexit work and that one day, the bloody Pound will start to gather a bit of strength again. Before the Brexit vote it was 55, look at it now.

Your dream will end with an unpleasant wakeup.

2 hours ago, hhinhh said:

Your dream will end with an unpleasant wakeup.

<deleted>,against other currencies too,there is a reason...manipulation

So glad that I will never have to worry about outliving my money.

7 hours ago, Nigel Garvie said:

 

I am not saying that Brexit voters are fascists, in my eyes I see them as the sad victims of conmen, the basic point that the writer of the piece was trying to make.

I will say though that populist voters, including the Brexit voters, have (Unwittingly in large part) helped put neo fascists, or a least leaders from the far right, into power. 

....and I will have to say so what?   The voting box is there ,cast your vote,do not like the outcome?  so what?   long gone are the days (if they ever existed at all) of pinning racist,bigot and all the other utter tosh insults.  Id say a badge of pride actually,but that is my own take of events

On 7/31/2019 at 7:49 PM, nauseus said:

Always good to be appreciated. What currencies do you expect to lose on?

 

OK , expert , what can we expect gbp /thb , @ month ending . 

  

 

 

 

 

     

13 minutes ago, elliss said:

 

OK , expert , what can we expect gbp /thb , @ month ending . 

 

Which month?  October?  Parity with the dollar.

21 hours ago, shy coconut said:

Cool, so the pound is doing better than Venezuela and a couple of obscure

African nations.

 

I feel so much better now, thanks.

 

Venezuela and uk , can twin together , entente cordial etc,  and starve together..

 

 

1 hour ago, elliss said:

 

Nausea , likes to be  known as a banker ,  aka , you got it,  one handed,  555

 

 

Looks like a another run on creative cobblers today.

1 hour ago, elliss said:

 

OK , expert , what can we expect gbp /thb , @ month ending . 

  

 

 

 

 

     

You wrote this at the end of the month. Look for yourself.

17 minutes ago, nauseus said:

You wrote this at the end of the month. Look for yourself.

 

Fyi , today August 1 . 

 

42 minutes ago, elliss said:

 

Fyi , today August 1 . 

 

What do you want exactly?

Not surprising the UK is a trickle down dead economy.

Recession and possible depression.

Very sad indeed.

Keep the faith people. After we have left the the sinking Federal Euro bureaucracy, the pound will recover*. I predict 50+ baht to the pound come end of March 2020. 

 

Obviously, for those of us here in LOS, the more baht to the pound the better, but the vast majority of UK subjects are not really affected concerned with this blatant scaremongering. 

 

Weak pound good for exporting to the coming US market (as long as we do as requested with iran).

 

* If the US petrodollar doesn't go belly up first, (which it could do at any time), and send most of the world's currencies crashing,

12 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Keep the faith people. After we have left the the sinking Federal Euro bureaucracy, the pound will recover*. I predict 50+ baht to the pound come end of March 2020. 

 

Obviously, for those of us here in LOS, the more baht to the pound the better, but the vast majority of UK subjects are not really affected concerned with this blatant scaremongering. 

 

Weak pound good for exporting to the coming US market (as long as we do as requested with iran).

 

* If the US petrodollar doesn't go belly up first, (which it could do at any time), and send most of the world's currencies crashing,

Please can you show and calculate this for us. By what economic circumstances your glass ball scenario could arrive, with the help of building on current economic data and its prognostic development.

 

Otherwise, your statment is just a prayer.

 

39 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Keep the faith people. After we have left the the sinking Federal Euro bureaucracy, the pound will recover*. I predict 50+ baht to the pound come end of March 2020. 

 

Obviously, for those of us here in LOS, the more baht to the pound the better, but the vast majority of UK subjects are not really affected concerned with this blatant scaremongering. 

 

Weak pound good for exporting to the coming US market (as long as we do as requested with iran).

 

* If the US petrodollar doesn't go belly up first, (which it could do at any time), and send most of the world's currencies crashing,

You also predicted a crash for fiat currency, did you not? According to your predictions, that should have happened a while ago.

2 minutes ago, tomacht8 said:

Please can you show and calculate this for us. By what economic circumstances your glass ball scenario could arrive, with the help of building on current economic data and its prognostic development.

 

Otherwise, your statment is just a prayer.

The starting point is halloween night; hopefully. As soon as we are OUT, the sooner we (us UKers) can start to do global business. Expect tariffs to be dropped with some European countries. Some are in recession as it is, and the companies do not want to see exporting slow even more.

 

Outside influences affect a country's currency value more than we realise. There is massive speculation on the pound, and these speculators are making serious dosh. When we leave the position will be reversed.

 

IMO, the 'great trade deal' with the US will come to nothing worth writing home about. We have far more to offer them than what they have to us.  We are leaders of the world in many emerging technologies. Biggest problem I can see is that we are being mooted as the US's greatest friend.

 

Of course a general election would be an added factor. The US would NOT want a pacifist and pro-Palestinian at #10.

Be happy my Canadian dollar reaps only 23 b


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8 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

You also predicted a crash for fiat currency, did you not? According to your predictions, that should have happened a while ago.

I did predict a Petro-dollar crash for last December. I was wrong. I didn't think the massive dollar printing would fool as many as it did for so long (and doing so still).

 

But it will come and The Don's trade wars will simple accelerate its demise.