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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Rip Off Britain
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shamwari
Shipmate
# 15556
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Posted
Over the past few days reports are emerging of prices being charged during the Olympics.
Hotel rooms at £1000 per night. Beer at £7 a pint. The list is endless. People are being robbed.
I am ashamed. What possible justification for this can there be except for sheer greed and the opportuniity to make a fast buck?
Welcome to Rip Off Britain. ( ROB ) May she RIP.
Posts: 1914 | From: from the abyss of misunderstanding | Registered: Mar 2010
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
I know what you mean. My sister owns a holiday cottage in Weymouth that she lets out. The agency that manages the lettings has told her that she could/should treble, or even quadruple her normal rate during the Olympics. She has refused to do this as she has a number of regular customers who she doesn't want to piss off.
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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JonahMan
Shipmate
# 12126
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Posted
It's called capitalism, with businesses maximising their profits in accordance with free market demands.
It's why regulating businesses is so essential. The recent focus on payday loans is another example, and worse, as it's taking cynical advantage of those who don't really have a choice if they want to eat.
I would be inclined to draw a distinction between essentials and luxuries though. If beer went up to £7 a pint I just wouldn't buy any (and might subsequently boycott pubs which charged that much). I don't actually require beer to survive - or at least can source it in other ways than at the pub.
But the idea that you can (and indeed, some would argue, are morally obliged to) charge as much as the market will bear, regardless of the needs of or impact on others, is the core of the capitalist economic system.
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Thank God for the aged
And old age itself, and illness and the grave
For when you're old, or ill and particularly in the coffin
It's no trouble to behave
Posts: 914 | From: Planet Zog | Registered: Dec 2006
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
This reminds me of the wonderful song from Les Miserables sung by the crooked landlord Thenardier:
Master of the house, keeper of the zoo
Ready to relieve 'em of a sou or two ...
There is indeed nothing knew under the sun.
[Note: the rest of the song lyrics have been removed to avoid copyright infringement, but you can read them
here. -Trudy, Scrumptious Purgatory Host]
[ 31. May 2012, 10:15: Message edited by: Trudy Scrumptious ]
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
This reminds me of the wonderful song from Les Miserables sung by the crooked landlord Thenardier:
The point of that song is that he's being dishonest about what he's providing and how much it will actually cost. That's a different issue to companies being perfectly honest about what they're providing and how much it will cost, regardless of your feelings about whether it's value for money or not.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
At least people are going to be allowed to bring their own food and drink into venues, provided they can put it under their seats (that's according to this morning's Metro, the free paper).
I wonder how much of the mark up is made necessary by the franchise fees and the like that food outlets have to pay to the organisers?
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
That you can charge more for things in high demand is not exactly astonishing revelation of the week. But as Sioni Sais has pointed out, it goes all the way up the line, from the CMOT Dibblers on the ground ('Olympic Rat on a Stick!') to the interests who built the stadia and the infrastructure. They all want a return on investment.
There will, of course, be a massive loss, but that's what the public sector is there for, innit?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Honest Ron Bacardi
Shipmate
# 38
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Posted
I'm with Firenze here - if you want to drink beer, why on earth would you go to the Olympic facilities to do that? Can't you wait?
And I know London is expensive, but £1000 a night? Go somewhere else! There must be plenty of places in Essex and other parts of London. Or even further away (I'll be travelling in 50 miles - there are specially cheap railway ticket deals to help you).
And yes, you can take your own food in, but not drinks. But there is free tap water on site, though you'll need to consult the maps to find it.
I'd like to make a grand statement to finish, but honestly it's not worth the effort. Big national events involve major expenditure. That means big prices, even if strict regulation were to be pulled out of a hat and enforced.
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Anglo-Cthulhic
Posts: 4857 | From: the corridors of Pah! | Registered: May 2001
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mudfrog:
This reminds me of the wonderful song from Les Miserables sung by the crooked landlord Thenardier:
Master of the house, keeper of the zoo
Ready to relieve 'em of a sou or two ...
There is indeed nothing knew under the sun.
[Note: the rest of the song lyrics have been removed to avoid copyright infringement, but you can read them
here. -Trudy, Scrumptious Purgatory Host]
Thanks - I did think I'd cut enough out of it to make it acceptable, but I understand your decision ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
He would run an airline these days - ThenardiAir:
"Charge 'em for the booze
Extra for the loos
Two per cent for service from the cabin crews"
You could even try "ten per cent for flying with the windows shut..."
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gill H:
He would run an airline these days - ThenardiAir:
"Charge 'em for the booze
Extra for the loos
Two per cent for service from the cabin crews"
You could even try "ten per cent for flying with the windows shut..."
LOL ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Honest Ron Bacardi:
And yes, you can take your own food in, but not drinks. But there is free tap water on site, though you'll need to consult the maps to find it.
How much will they be charging for maps?
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
Its because the Olympics is partly financed by Coca-Cola and other sponsoring corporations in return for local monopolies on sales. From their point of view that's what the Olympics is for and they wouldn't take part if they couldn't get it.
We had the same sort of criticism in 1999 about the Dome - lots of people wanted a chance for local small businesses to be involved, and for selling various British or ethnic foods and drinks, but the people who ran it only did deals with large corporations. They might have little choice of course. They will be directed by the government to put more business in the way of big business. Its also partly what Olympics is for from their point of view.
The curry house in Brick Lane or the Asian corner shop in East Ham, or the street trader in Bow, or the pub in Bethnal Green, or the organic bakery in Stratford aren't on their radar. Other than as obstacles to be swept out of the way so that McDonald's and Coca-Cola and Kraft and so on sell even more of their mass-produced stuff.
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Honest Ron Bacardi
Shipmate
# 38
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Spike:
quote:
Originally posted by Honest Ron Bacardi:
And yes, you can take your own food in, but not drinks. But there is free tap water on site, though you'll need to consult the maps to find it.
How much will they be charging for maps?
Look it up online before you go!
And what Ken said.
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Anglo-Cthulhic
Posts: 4857 | From: the corridors of Pah! | Registered: May 2001
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
I think i will hang around somewhere in London, find people who are lost, and charge them £20 to guide them in the right direction.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
During the Olympics I'm staying as far away from London as possible. Why, some people have even taken early retirement in order to avoid the Capitol at that time! ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Why, some people have even taken early retirement in order to avoid the Capitol at that time!
Ahem.
A Capitol is a building on a hill.
A Capital is a big city.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
[ 01. June 2012, 16:17: Message edited by: ken ]
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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PaulBC
Shipmate
# 13712
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Posted
Sounds like what happened in 2010 at the Vancouver / Whistler Olympics and in 1994 when Victoria hosted the Commenwealth Games .
I tend to think these events draw the kind of make a buck, or in London's case a pound
individuals . Hang in there and enjoy the Queens celebrations next week/. Oh and may the weather get better .
![[Votive]](graemlins/votive.gif) ![[Angel]](graemlins/angel.gif)
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"He has told you O mortal,what is good;and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice and to love kindness ,and to walk humbly with your God."Micah 6:8
Posts: 873 | From: Victoria B.C. Canada | Registered: May 2008
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
The costs of flights and accommodation goes up at certain times of year virtually anywhere in the world, on the grounds that those are the times when demand is higher. Heck, hotels change their prices for different days of the WEEK for the same reason.
It's simply the same phenomenon spiked into a unique 2-week period.
[ 03. June 2012, 09:26: Message edited by: orfeo ]
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Bostonman
Shipmate
# 17108
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Posted
As has been noted above, as unfortunate as it is with regards to the ability of lower-income folks to enjoy the games, this is how markets work. Say the price of a beer stayed at £3, and normally 100 customers are served in a day. Now if 200 customers are going to be around, either a) you're going to increase the price or b) you're not going to be able to serve the second 100 of them because you'll run out or it will become prohibitively expensive. So the choice isn't really between price-gouging and keeping your rates down like a decent person. Rather it's between denying the beer to those who can't pay £7 and denying the beer to the second half of people who arrive, and the latter seems more arbitrary in the context of purchasing something.
Note that while this is one defense of the market system, I'm not a particularly strong proponent of markets. I'm also quite sympathetic to the various claims above regarding local shops, pubs, etc.
Posts: 424 | From: USA | Registered: May 2012
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dj_ordinaire
Host
# 4643
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Posted
What infuriates me is not that they are charging £7 for beer, but that they are charging £7 for 'beer' - some weird, cats-piss concoction called ... 'Heineken'? Or is it Carlsberg? Something like that anyway. The only way this could possibly make for an enjoyable spectacle would be if each contestant was required to drink eight pints of it before competing which would make all this ridiculous running and bouncing about at least moderately funny.
Not that I'm bitter you understand!
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Flinging wide the gates...
Posts: 10335 | From: Hanging in the balance of the reality of man | Registered: Jun 2003
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justlooking
Shipmate
# 12079
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bostonman:
.. Say the price of a beer stayed at £3, and normally 100 customers are served in a day. Now if 200 customers are going to be around, either a) you're going to increase the price or b) you're not going to be able to serve the second 100 of them because you'll run out ..
Couldn't you just stock up with extra beer to sell at the usual price?
Posts: 2319 | From: thither and yon | Registered: Nov 2006
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rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
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Posted
Make hay while the sun shines is a phrase that comes to mind . And indeed there is nothing new under it in terms of the Homo-sapien and opportunism.
Immoral ? If people have been forcibly removed from flats so that landlord's can charge £1000 a night, then yea it's a bit off .
As for the over-priced beer ? Why not bring your own.
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Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by dj_ordinaire:
What infuriates me is not that they are charging £7 for beer, but that they are charging £7 for 'beer' - some weird, cats-piss concoction called ... 'Heineken'? Or is it Carlsberg? Something like that anyway. The only way this could possibly make for an enjoyable spectacle would be if each contestant was required to drink eight pints of it before competing which would make all this ridiculous running and bouncing about at least moderately funny.
Not that I'm bitter you understand!
Nor is the beer.
I've heard that some Scottish spectators will be wearing Irn-Bru t-shirts to at least redress the balance in favour of home-grown capitalism.
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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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Emma Louise
Storm in a teapot
# 3571
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Posted
I am not really into the Olympics. Or big crowds. However I am housesitting near where I used to live over the Olympics (house owners always away those 2 weeks) and can't resist taking my children into london.
We're planning to Go Into London and go on the duck tour (checked in advance the prices are the same and can be pre booked) and come back again.
I'm hoping this isn't completely bonkers...
Posts: 12719 | From: Enid Blyton territory. | Registered: Nov 2002
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
Beer economics.
If a pint of beer costs you £1 and you sell it at £3 a pint to 100 people - you have made £200 profit
If a pint of beer costs you £1 and you sell it at £7 a pint but only 40 will buy it at that price - you have made £240 profit and you still have 60 pints of beer.
The price is determined by what people are prepared to pay.
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Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Beeswax Altar
Shipmate
# 11644
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Posted
London bid on the Olympics so that bars and hotels could charge outrageous prices for beer and rooms. The goal was to rip off foreigners. But, as scripture tells us, he sends the rain on the British and Non-British alike.
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Losing sleep is something you want to avoid, if possible.
-Og: King of Bashan
Posts: 8411 | From: By a large lake | Registered: Jul 2006
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
London bid on the Olympics so that bars and hotels could charge outrageous prices for beer and rooms. The goal was to rip off foreigners. But, as scripture tells us, he sends the rain on the British and Non-British alike.
There was never any deliberate intention to screw Johnny Foreigner. Our 'Hospitality' industry rips everybody off. It specialises in two-star service at four-star prices.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Balaam:
Beer economics.
If a pint of beer costs you £1 and you sell it at £3 a pint to 100 people - you have made £200 profit
If a pint of beer costs you £1 and you sell it at £7 a pint but only 40 will buy it at that price - you have made £240 profit and you still have 60 pints of beer.
The price is determined by what people are prepared to pay.
Hmm. You've made 240 pounds on the beer you've sold, yes, but it looks like you've also wasted 60 pounds on beer that you've bought but been unable to sell.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
It's all another good reason, if one were needed, to ignore the whole bloated tawdry shebang.
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Honest Ron Bacardi
Shipmate
# 38
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
It's all another good reason, if one were needed, to ignore the whole bloated tawdry shebang.
That's my philosophy too, Albertus - I just need to make it work whilst actually going to see several events.
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Anglo-Cthulhic
Posts: 4857 | From: the corridors of Pah! | Registered: May 2001
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the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
I've heard that some Scottish spectators will be wearing Irn-Bru t-shirts to at least redress the balance in favour of home-grown capitalism.
Hopefully somebody will explain to those spectators what the implications of ambush marketing could be for the company. They might reconsider wearing those shirts then.
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If I give a homeopathy advocate a really huge punch in the face, can the injury be cured by giving them another really small punch in the face?
Posts: 4834 | From: Adelaide, South Australia. | Registered: Jan 2006
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Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881
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Posted
Anyone who still thinks the Olympics are a sporting event has missed the bus - it's an advertising event. The Super Super Bowl for advertisers. Visa, Coke, GM, GE, etc. are the teams that are already on the podium. And thanks to world-wide TV and teh intrawebz, there's plenty of advertising time for all the other smaller teams to battle it out.
Anyway, as mentioned above, the same gouging happened in Caprica City two years ago. If it makes anybody feel better, a lot of those $5,000/night rooms went empty, and it was pretty much a typical tourist summer for two weeks in winter. Just like every other Olympics, the local economic boost was far less than promised. In fact, I think I'll take another trip out to the Olympic remainders warehouse sale this week. Great deals on left-over Olympic swag and a free stuffed mascot just for walking in the door. ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
The best part of the Olympics? Walking around the venues soaking up the excitement. I didn't attend or watch any events, and I still had a great time. Also, the athletes that are eliminated or finished competing can go out and have fun. You may not meet the top stars, but all the athletes are amazing and fascinating. OliviaG
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"You come with me to room 1013 over at the hospital, I'll show you America. Terminal, crazy and mean." -- Tony Kushner, "Angels in America"
Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by OliviaG:
Anyway, as mentioned above, the same gouging happened in Caprica City two years ago. If it makes anybody feel better, a lot of those $5,000/night rooms went empty, and it was pretty much a typical tourist summer for two weeks in winter. Just like every other Olympics, the local economic boost was far less than promised. In fact, I think I'll take another trip out to the Olympic remainders warehouse sale this week. Great deals on left-over Olympic swag and a free stuffed mascot just for walking in the door.
And didn't the same happen in South Wales two Years ago when the Ryder Cup came to Newport! Did you even know it came to Newport? Hell, no, the last thing the organisers wanted was to associate one of the world's top golf events with one of the United Kingdom's crappiest towns (not just my opinion). The City Fathers did all they could to encourage cheapjack hotels to move in, our landlord, amongst others, was implored to move us out for a couple of weeks so some rich 'Murcans could move in for the duration but no benefits came to pass. Mostly the US visitors stayed well away from Newport and everyone was bussed in to the venues to avoid the awful possibility that they might see the underbelly of the UK. I imagine the same lick-of-paint regeneration is going on all over the eastern side of London, but it will do sod all for Stratford, Hackney and the rest in the longer term.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
I've heard that some Scottish spectators will be wearing Irn-Bru t-shirts to at least redress the balance in favour of home-grown capitalism.
Hopefully somebody will explain to those spectators what the implications of ambush marketing could be for the company. They might reconsider wearing those shirts then.
What's that meant to mean?
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:
I've heard that some Scottish spectators will be wearing Irn-Bru t-shirts to at least redress the balance in favour of home-grown capitalism.
Hopefully somebody will explain to those spectators what the implications of ambush marketing could be for the company. They might reconsider wearing those shirts then.
What's that meant to mean?
I can't be certain but I believe the supporters of a Dutch team had to remove their replica shirts at a match, because their side was sponsored by a different brewery to that which sponsors of the competition*. Quite what Irn-Bru competes with I don't know. Kinnie perhaps (a distinctive Maltese soft drink)?
*If manufacturers of lager can be considered to be brewers, that is.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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pimple
Ship's Irruption
# 10635
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Posted
At the wonderful Hay on Wye Festival recently I was embarrassed to be the only one out of all those hundreds, eating my own sandwiches. Especially in view of all the goodies available -genuine swamp-reared Welsh lamburgers, gourmet saucissons et fromages etc. and I determined to come empty-handed, but with an extra quid or two, next year.
Then I noticed the prices. And after that I began to see kindred spirits all over the place, chompoing their bread and cheese behind the loos and round the corner from the signing tent.
Next year I'll take some extra dosh - but only for an extra reading or two, and be bold as brass with my "piece".
[ 04. June 2012, 20:17: Message edited by: pimple ]
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In other words, just because I made it all up, doesn't mean it isn't true (Reginald Hill)
Posts: 8018 | From: Wonderland | Registered: Nov 2005
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anne
Shipmate
# 73
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
And didn't the same happen in South Wales two Years ago when the Ryder Cup came to Newport! Did you even know it came to Newport? Hell, no, the last thing the organisers wanted was to associate one of the world's top golf events with one of the United Kingdom's crappiest towns (not just my opinion).
Tangent/
Don't let on to the city fathers (oh yes it is a city) but I know why the Ryder Cup was a washout. My family live just behind the Celtic Manor and my sister thought that it would be lovely to walk down into Caerleon while the golf was on and 'people watch'. Her eight year old didn't like this plan - and so she prayed for rain. She really prayed - and it really, really rained. My sister was already nervous that K might 'get religion' before this happened - now she's got something to be worried about!
end of tangent
Anne
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‘I would have given the Church my head, my hand, my heart. She would not have them. She did not know what to do with them. She told me to go back and do crochet' Florence Nightingale
Posts: 338 | From: Devon | Registered: May 2001
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif) Anne's niece
[ 05. June 2012, 11:44: Message edited by: Albertus ]
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
Yes I do know the Ryder Cup came to Newport - they've put it up on their enormous town signs which you have to drive past if you want to access the rest of South Wales. In an irreverent moment, I did wonder whether they couldn't think of anything else to put on the signs as nothing else had ever happened there. But then some people said that about Nazareth once.....
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Yes I do know the Ryder Cup came to Newport - they've put it up on their enormous town signs which you have to drive past if you want to access the rest of South Wales. In an irreverent moment, I did wonder whether they couldn't think of anything else to put on the signs as nothing else had ever happened there. But then some people said that about Nazareth once.....
You got me thinking. We've got the usual list of famous people from Newport and we stil have the transporter bridge. Everything else, apart from the University with its excellent film and photography school, has gone ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
Actually I'm quite looking forward to visiting the wetland board walk.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Actually I'm quite looking forward to visiting the wetland board walk.
Another illustration of the Newport Two-mile Rule. Once you get two miles out of Newport there is any amount of faccinating stuff. Caerleon, Tredegar House, the Wetlands. There are a few bullet marks in the fabric of Westgate Buildings dating from the Chartist Riots and Britain's most ruined castle, but precious little else in the centre.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
pimple - when you come to the Hay Festival again, come and find me at the Cinema Bookshop! I can tell you where the locals eat! (and it's not at the Festival site).
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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Another illustration of the Newport Two-mile Rule. Once you get two miles out of Newport there is any amount of faccinating stuff. Caerleon, Tredegar House, the Wetlands. There are a few bullet marks in the fabric of Westgate Buildings dating from the Chartist Riots and Britain's most ruined castle, but precious little else in the centre.
If it makes you feel any better, Newport railway station is highly regarded amongst the rail enthusiast fraternity as being a good place to spot freight...
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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Ricardus
Shipmate
# 8757
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Posted
What do you mean, there's nothing in Newport?
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Then the dog ran before, and coming as if he had brought the news, shewed his joy by his fawning and wagging his tail. -- Tobit 11:9 (Douai-Rheims)
Posts: 7247 | From: Liverpool, UK | Registered: Nov 2004
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
They do have a Cathedral (although I'm not sure many people in Newport realise it's there, it's rather hidden away). Last time I went there, I actually managed to get inside and have a look around, as they were preparing for a service.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
On a totally different slant, where does the Bank of England get the £325 billion it has spent on 'Quantitative Easing'?
Readers already know I'm no economist, but why couldn't this money have been spent to put people into work rather than to boost the price of Treasury Bonds? That looks like a lot of spending in a narrow sector.
[ 07. June 2012, 13:50: Message edited by: Sioni Sais ]
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
On a totally different slant, where does the Bank of England get the £325 billion it has spent on 'Quantitative Easing'?
It just invented it.
You don't even have to print it these days. Money is just entries in databases. Just delete one figure and replace it with a larger one. Banks do it all the time. The esoteric business of financial regulation is mainly making sure they don't do it without permission.
Like Bruce Sterling said years ago, cyberspace is real. Its where the banks keep your money.
quote:
Readers already know I'm no economist, but why couldn't this money have been spent to put people into work rather than to boost the price of Treasury Bonds?
Because to these people you and me and workers in general don't count as part of The Economy(TM). That's made up of great property owners and landlords and large corporations. They have to be stopped from losing money, so the proce of property has to be kept up.
325 billion is about 10,000 per UK taxpayer. They could simply have given that to us. Or more subtly given it to people who were in no debt to the bakns, but taken it off the debts of those who were in debt.
So if you owed the bank 5,000 quid the bank got given five grans, you got five grans, and everyone was quits. But if you owed more than ten thousand it was just reduced. As most British people owe more than ten thousand pounds to banks, most of us would not have seen much cash.
That would have to be combined with stricter regulation of mortgages and the housing market to ensure that we didn;t all just spend it all on houses and put the prices up (the best way might simply be to charge tax on capital gains from selling a house - only on the gain so ono-one loses out, but it woulds help prevent runaway inflation of house prices)
There would be ahuge increase in economic demand, and so in production and so in emplyment and therefore in wages paid to workers and we would all on average be better off.
But of course they don't. Because they want us to be in debt to the banks to the maximum amount affordable because that transfers money from the debtors (who tend to be poor) to the lenders (who tend to be rich). And it keeps us all working hard and not rocking the boat. Someone who owns their own house outright can afford to be out of work for a while. Someone who has a mortgage can't because they would be instantly homeless so they take more shit from their bosses.
And they want land prices to be inflated because it makes the rich richer, because its the rich that own the land.
It's called "capitalism".
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
Isn't it amazing that typos that are COMPLETELY INVISIBLE when you are in writer mode - even when you use preview post - become eye-stranglingy prominent when you are in reader mode. Even when you wrote them yourself two minutes earlier.
This Ship would be a lot easier with a ten-minute edit window.
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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