Comments on: UK National Debt

By: Shamith Kunder

Shamith Kunder — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:28:48 +0000

It the Banking system that has failed because of very loose lending system. Instead of excessive borrowing and provide the stimulus. The government should directly control most of the Bank and public sector unit , create more employment. The government should also put a cap on the exposure on all public fund i.e, the safeguard the pension fund. Instead of talking of liberalisation, its time to talk about protectionism.

By: Tim May

Tim May — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:36:53 +0000

Thank you for this article, it is are to find this kind of info in such an easy to read format.

I have one question however, who is all this money owed to? Who is so rich that they can lend countries so much money?

By: Government Debt « Blaffiti

Government Debt « Blaffiti — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:43:22 +0000

[...] a writer on the blog ‘Economics help’ points out; From National Debt: What appears tragic from this is that Britain’s cultural history can be read off from the 1900 [...]

By: Money Stand

Money Stand — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:33:17 +0000

What an insight into the nation debt. Great article, so informative and thanks for covering this.

By: tejvan

tejvan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:10:47 +0000

thanks Ralph, Yes, in recent months things have been changing quite significantly. I will update post

By: Ralph Musgrave

Ralph Musgrave — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:40:34 +0000

I’d like to querie the above first para: “The UK national debt is the total amount of money the British government owes to the private sector.”

According to a “City Wire” site, nearly all the increased so called “national debt” in recent months is debt owed by the government to the Bank Of England (on account of the latter’s generous decision to print loads of money and give it to government). This so called “debt” (owed effectively by one government entity to another) is not a debt in any normal meaning of the word.

See the following City Wire site, second graph or “bar chart” and the para just above it: http://www.citywire.co.uk/personal/-/news/money-property-and-tax/content.aspx?ID=352818

By: UK Debt Burden | Economics Blog

UK Debt Burden | Economics Blog — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:50:22 +0000

[...] Readers Comment: From National Debt: What appears tragic from this is that Britain’s cultural history can be read off from the 1900 – 2000 PSBR debt burden chart from the Bank of England above. [...]

By: Warneford

Warneford — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:34:57 +0000

What appears tragic from this is that Britain’s cultural history can be read off from the 1900 – 2000 PSBR debt burden chart from the Bank of England above.

The chart’s peaks of PSBR above 100% of GDP mirror exactly the historical periods of social misery which George Orwell documented during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, with Britain characterised as a land of rootless tramps and unemployed all reliant on piecemeal charity, low paid jobs and money-lenders, a nation which even Orwell himself could not envisage having a universal welfare state.

Our collective memories of this poverty finally begin to lift around 1965 and Beatlemania, a time exactly co-inciding with PSBR finally falling below 100% of GDP.

It looks like our nation’s all too brief summer of credit looks set to end and the Orwellian social conditions and dismantled welfare state look set to return.

By: Ralph Musgrave

Ralph Musgrave — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:27:04 +0000

The email you sent out on 15/16th Sept 2009 on the subject of government borrowing says “The irony is that many people in the UK who have private pensions indirectly have lent money to the government”. Too right. I would go a lot further: I suggest that behind this “irony” there is hornets’ nest, as follows.

Governments borrow to a large extent because the politicians in charge think they can make themselves popular by sparing voters the pain of additional tax. But as you rightly point out, this policy simply results in voters lending instead of paying taxes. The reduced personal consumption by voters is pretty much the same in each case.

Incidentally, this is a classic example of one of the most common mistakes in economics: the mistake of assuming that micro economic laws work at the macroeconomic level. To illustrate, if I PERSONALLY borrow to buy a new car, I can delay the pain of working and saving in order to get the cash to buy the car. But this does not work at the macro economic level.

I’ve actually set up a blog, which claims that government borrowing is largely a farce. I dont think there should be NO government borrowing, because if governments and/or central banks can alter interest rates and the total amount they borrow, this is a useful regulatory tool. See: http://govtdebt.blogspot.com/

By: paulskin.net » And Again

paulskin.net » And Again — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:47:23 +0000

[...] UK ‘Public Debt’ is now approximately £798 billion (June 2009 – http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/uk-economy/uk-national-debt/), and according to the media because of this all the main parties agree that the public sector (our [...]