{"id":5171,"date":"2015-08-07T16:41:38","date_gmt":"2015-08-07T15:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5171"},"modified":"2015-08-07T16:41:38","modified_gmt":"2015-08-07T15:41:38","slug":"it-just-isnt-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5171","title":{"rendered":"It just isn’t working"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

One of the present Tory government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s favourite mantras, that its \u00e2\u20ac\u015blong-term economic plan\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bworking\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, is a classic example of effective propaganda \u00e2\u20ac\u201c repeat it often enough and, in the minds of the public, it becomes true.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut chancellor George Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u015blong-term\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 plan, is in fact, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mired in short-termism.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe Independent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economics editor Ben Chu highlighted earlier this week<\/a> that the chancellor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obsession with reducing the deficit and achieving an overall budget surplus by the end of the decade will only further hinder any chance at Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economic growth by choking productivity.<\/p>\n

 
\nChu explained that achieving an overall surplus would completely preclude any possibility of public investment in infrastructure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Penny wise, pound foolish<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is penny wise, pound foolish,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Chu argued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBorrowing to invest is entirely sensible; if spending enhances our economy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s productive capacity, it ultimately pays for itself. The fact that future generations will benefit from infrastructure spending today also makes it reasonable to finance it through borrowing paid back over time (especially when record low borrowing costs are available).\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nChu noted that this public investment which Osborne has rejected benefits the economy as a whole.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBetter transport links help goods and people move around the economy more efficiently,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFaster broadband helps businesses expand. And try running any kind of commercial organisation when there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a power cut because the generating stations are too old or over-capacity.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nPrivate sector investment is also at an all-time low.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe Bank of England\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chief economist Andy Haldane told BBC Newsnight<\/a> last month shareholder power was to blame \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a greater share of profits is going to shareholders rather than being reinvested in private companies.<\/p>\n

 
\nHaldane pointed out that in 1970, only \u00c2\u014110 out every \u00c2\u0141100 in profits was paid out to shareholders through dividends, but now that figure has skyrocketed to between \u00c2\u014160 and \u00c2\u014170 per \u00c2\u0141100.<\/p>\n

 
\nIn the past, shareholders held on to shares for an average of six years, while now, the average is only six months, suggesting that shareholders who are charged with making important decisions for companies are not ultimately concerned about the long-term health of these companies.<\/p>\n

 
\nHaldane said that UK corporate law was a big part of the problem because it granted too much power to shareholders. There are other corporate governance models however, in which customers and workers have a greater say, such as in Germany.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite assistant general secretary Tony Burke criticised the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hypocrisy on productivity.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is all very well this government talking about increasing productivity but they seem to forget that the key elements to improve productivity are now missing from the UK economy thanks to Tory economic policy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese key elements include investment in infrastructure, investment in education and technical skills and most importantly investment in people,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Burke added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bGermany is always quoted as the powerhouse of economic productivity and the reasons for this are that trade unions are built into the fabric of the German economy.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInforming and consulting with the workforce is a given and investment in education and skills are seen as the future of economy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if only this was true of the UK,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis government has not got a clue about what is needed for the UK economy to grow; an industrial strategy would help!\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the present Tory government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s favourite mantras, that its \u00e2\u20ac\u015blong-term economic plan\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bworking\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, is a classic example of effective propaganda \u00e2\u20ac\u201c repeat it often enough and, in the minds of the public, it becomes true.   But chancellor George Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u015blong-term\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 plan, is in fact, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mired in short-termism.   The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[326],"wps_subtitle":"Government hypocrisy on productivity slammed ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5171"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5175,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5171\/revisions\/5175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}