Young people in Britain today are rightfully concerned about the economic future that awaits them and the burdens they face thanks to the spending habits of their parents and grandparents. The scale of Govt (Public) debt in Britain – perhaps as high as £6trillion when off-balance sheet liabilities, such as Govt (Public) sector pensions are taken into account – does not just pose serious economic questions for the UK, but also moral questions about inter-generational equity. Collectively – if not consciously – older generations have voted themselves richer than they can afford. The bill for higher Welfare pensions, Govt.-run healthcare and a range of other benefits is being passed from father to son, from mother to daughter. Those who are entering the workforce today can reasonably ask whether they are going to end up paying for a wide range of Welfare that they are unlikely to be able to claim themselves in decades to come. The situation is getting worse, not better. For all the prattle of demagogues on "austerity" and deep "cuts" in spending, the present trajectory of holding back Govt spending is incredibly modest in real terms, as long as a Govt spends more than it brings in in taxes. It’s not just a debt mountain that we need to worry about. There are other structural economic failings too. Free trade red tape and QUANGOs are now (still) so burdensome that we are in danger of creating an “insider-outsider” culture. Those presently IN employment might benefit from rises in the minimum wage (Price Controls/Wage Floors) and enhanced workplace protections – but it prices others OUT of the labour market altogether, who cannot offer such productivity, skills or qualifications that those artificial wage levels demand (Such as school leavers and the unskilled). If government policies push up the price of doing something, businesses tend to employ less, work existing workers harder and buy more self service tills - this is Sesame Street Economics 101, which most Socialists and Marxists cannot see. Again, it is young people who are feeling the pinch – with youth unemployment now standing at about a million. Given it is illegal for businesses to offer employment to over-21s at less than £6.19 per hour (rising to £6.31 in October 2013), even if BOTH parties voluntarily and mutually AGREE to those terms, the first few rungs on the career ladder have been removed for many seeking to enter the labour market at the bottom. Very often, when faced with a challenge, people ask what the GOVT should do to tackle it. Believers in free trade believe that bureaucrats and Govt should often do LESS and families, neighbourhoods and Communities should do MORE, and further, that there is no problem that Govt cannot make worse, and is even the cause of them. The global financial real-estate crash/correction, slow growth and a British Govt sector that accounts for about 50% of national income has led many to consider whether we should seek a different economic path, one in which individual men and women wield more power and discretion over their socio-economic lives and politicians and bureaucrats wield less. f you are interested in investigating how smaller Govts, freer trade and Economic Freedom goes together with civil and political Liberty while leading to a more vibrant, dynamic and exciting future for Britain, please get involved, you are the future and by golly we need you now. Although recent years have been full of gloomy economic news, there is a better path we can follow. The UcLan Conservative Society seeks exists to inform and empower so that the next generation will better understand the case for free open trade, smaller government and Civil Liberty.
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 11:47:45 +0000
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