Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

The dim/libs look like they are finished.

But what does 8% mean seat wise?

Difficult to say due to constituency boundaries. The Libs are pretty consistent with their seats. They usually bounce back in a real election and people revert to type. The same is probably true of UKIP. I guess they won't actually gain a single MP. The Libs support is concentrated in a small number of seats, so their percentage has more effect. UKIP's support is spread evenly across the country. That means their current percentage probably won't translate into any actual seats.

Fair enough, thanks.

How a house price cap could work

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has called for the Bank of England to cap house-price rises at 5% a year. Here we explore how a cap would work


Hilary Osborne, Heather Stewart and Patrick Collinson

theguardian.com, Friday 13 September 2013 11.23 BST


Why does Rics want a cap?

The organisation says limiting house prices would prevent a dangerous new property bubble, reckless lending and a build-up in consumer debt. By letting people know that they can only expect prices to rise by up to 5%, the Bank of England would stop homebuyers and lenders gambling on rising prices. During the last property boom lenders such as Northern Rock offered 125% mortgages, based on an expectation that prices would rise and borrowers would not end up in negative equity for long – but when prices crashed some people were left stuck with huge loans. Rics argues that everyone would be more cautious if there was a price cap.


Why set it at 5%?

Rics says it is "not wedded" to the figure, which it based on the average annual growth in UK earnings, plus an allowance for price pressure caused by a lack of supply of homes for sale. Growth is currently exceeding that level, according to Halifax's latest house price index..http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/06/house-prices-rise-halifax



main story: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/13/how-house-price-cap-work

I maybe as thick as usual and I can see how you can limit the flow of money into the general "market", but how does this "government" directly limit the asking price for a house, or limit it increase in price if somebody wants to buy it, if only part of the deposit its borrowed from the "banks"?

Or is this another U-turn on its way but at the price of Joe Soap?

Limiting the flow of money is enough to stop house price rises. Enforcing tight multiples of income for loans will have the same defect as will increasing the percentage for deposits. They are all devices that have been used to restrict credit and consequently house prices. House prices do need to rise a bit as they have been depressed for too long.

UMMMH.

What are the repercussions?

I agree with you on that , its nothing new and a % limit is like a wage raise limit ., better ways to do it , going against market forces is a risky thing to do.

This is merely an idea by the RICS that they have asked the BoE to look at. There is no government policy, no U-turn on the horizon and, aside from setting the BoE a mandate (which is primarily to regulate inflation), the government has no control whatsoever over decisions made by the MPC.

OBC,

I noticed a few pages back that you asked about a road from Pau to somewhere (was it Zaragoza?). I don't know the road myself, but, as a suggestion, why don't you call it up on Google maps and look at the streetview. You'll quickly be able to tell what it's like and whether it's drivable in your MiniWinne.

Haystack sums it up.

Fixed multiples of income should do the trick.

Cant do anything about the market, if people have the money to chase property, the price will rise...I'm thinking the bank of mum and dad.


The fly in the ointment is the politicians, Cameroon wants a rising market to make people feel good, and hopefully vote the tosser back in.

UMMH,

Hilary,

Thank you.

Have done.

I think I will use the route I know.

Trying to stop myself stretching my machine and muscles.

I am too old for trouble.

fred - 29356 was an interesting read (i have been out all day and only just returned), but you don't address - and i don't blame you, but merely comment - how you would create your utopian society

of course, the answer is you cannot, and harsh and arguably unfair as it might be, at the end of the day, society can only supply welfare in its very broadest sense to the extent that it can afford it .... "affording" it through heavier and heavier taxation patently does not work ...... so the fullness of the purse dictates that "welfare" either offers less, or perhaps a bit more when that society is going through one of its periodic boom times which, de facto, creates greater revenue/taxation stream

Cynic,

One may not succeed, but you can attempt to move slowly towards the goal, otherwise society may gradually retreat into is previous state.

Ie. the resurgence of extreme right political parties, as seen with BNP and elements of UKIP, Germany, France and Greece.

It isn't simply the distribution of wealth, or increasing taxation, it is having a recognisable reason for acceptable differentials of retained "income" and its uses.

Perhaps, valuation of input into society as a whole. with the risks and responsibilities undertaken taken into be the measurement.

Also, there may be a more change in the balance of taxation from "direct taxation" to "indirect taxation".

--------

Just throwing something into the air again, is an increasing GDP the measurement of what is a successful society?

When it reaches infinity, what will be the purpose of economy of that size?

Absurd maybe, but think about it for a moment, or two. When is enough, enough?

There will never be enough£

Print more of it!

George is has been doing it, without mentioning it for months.

8-)

I don't think he has!

Total authorised QE has stood at £375bn since July 2012.

Greeks protest against Golden Dawn attack on Communists

Thousands demonstrate in Athens after supporters of neo-Nazi party leave nine seriously injured amid fears of civil war



Helena Smith in Athens

theguardian.com, Friday 13 September 2013 19.37 BST


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/13/greeks-protest-golden-dawn-attack-communists

Nick Clegg Muslim arse hole lickerhttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/13/muslim-student-veil-ban-reversed-birmingham-college_n_3918198.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D208468

fred - good to be having a sensible discussion for a change! ...... in times of deep recession, nationalism and attaching political parties always come to the fore .... 'twas ever thus and always will be

your ideals may be to be applauded, but though society is merely a grouping of individuals, unlike with greenpeace which has emotional appeal, the raising of any taxes to "improve" conditions for the less fortunate, is never going to win many votes ...... in any case, even indirect taxes will always hit everyone