The news that the Greek economy has grown more than that of the UK in recent months will be music to the ears of George Osborne and company. There may, of course, be a few risible comments and the odd joke at PMQ's about Britain doing worse than the most maligned economy in the Eurozone, but the fact that there has been growth in Greece will give the Chancellor the opportunity to look even more smug than usual, if such a thing were possible.
The reason for this is that Greece has slashed public spending, as a result of receiving money from the IMF. Bail outs such as those which Greece have received always come with more strings than a violinists convention and decreased Government outlay is always the first. This in turn leads to high unemployment among teachers, nurses, police officers and others, generally driving salaries down as people accept jobs that they are massively over qualified to do in order to have an income. This kind of low wage economy goes hand in hand with low skilled jobs, so the consequence is that people hugely under achieve, there is a great deal of unemployment and no-one wants to risk losing the pitifully badly paid post they hold. Of course, overtime is a necessity to ensure that bills are paid, so productivity goes up. Governments are desperate not to lose companies to their competitors, so labour laws are relaxed, making firing much easier (it's always been easy to hire, but people do tend to merge the two for the sake of a good cliche). All this is set against a backdrop of increased profits for companies who are now able to compete against China, India and Indonesia on profit margin and wages (relatively). It's Thatcher's first law of economics. Get back to the Mill, proles, and don't dare question the Mill owner's opinions.
We may soon be treated to the sights and sounds of George Osborne holding Greece up as the economic example to us all. If they can engineer a growing economy from dire straits, then all we have to do is follow their example and we will grow too. Besides, those pesky schools and hospitals are simply a drain on the taxpayer and don't produce anything of value. Quickly, nurse, the screens. If you don't believe that the present Government are thinking in this way, just consider the BBC news report revealing that 40% of graduates are working in jobs whose skill level is lower than their qualification: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13361769
The Chancellor may even introduce TINA to us again. "There Is No Alternative". But there is.
For many years, British industry has been crying out for a 'flexible' workforce. Well now would be the perfect time to give them what they want. It needs to be well defined, and should not mean that we all have the aptitude to work in a call centre. It involves partnerships between industry, employees, government and the educational sector. The Government should be introducing a 'National Training Credit', which could be used either by individuals or by businesses. Such a credit would pay for someone's vocational re-skilling in order that they can take the next step on their career route. As a nation, we spend a fortune on training courses for young people who, more often than not, take up apprenticeships, college places and work-based training only to find they want to change direction a few years down the line. Some of this money can be saved by companies taking on young people in working roles, with the promise of free training in the future.
For example, imagine a company which wants to break into eastern European markets. The National Training Credit could be used to send key sales staff on language courses while managers could attend relevant modules of International Relations courses. People who want to move into such posts could choose to use their Credit to undertake these courses with a view to promotion, giving the business a pool of talent that is well trained and prepared to move forward.
Despite what various Conservatives may wish, we will never compete with emerging economies on grounds of cost. Our living standards are far too high to drive wages down to the kind of levels we see in developing economies. Rather than revisiting the mistakes of the 80's and 90's, where huge British firms outsourced their production to cheaper nations, we should use the current economic climate to try something new. A high quality workforce, well trained and involved workforce, with everyone around the table embracing a flexibility that can be in everyone's interests.
A march in support of Government cuts managed to muster 350 attendees, almost a whole trainful. There is not a huge appetite for Britain to become a slash and burn haven. Nothing this Government has done in the previous 12 months has suggested that their sloganising is anything more than empty rhetoric. If the economy is to recover, we genuinely need to all be in this together.
The reason for this is that Greece has slashed public spending, as a result of receiving money from the IMF. Bail outs such as those which Greece have received always come with more strings than a violinists convention and decreased Government outlay is always the first. This in turn leads to high unemployment among teachers, nurses, police officers and others, generally driving salaries down as people accept jobs that they are massively over qualified to do in order to have an income. This kind of low wage economy goes hand in hand with low skilled jobs, so the consequence is that people hugely under achieve, there is a great deal of unemployment and no-one wants to risk losing the pitifully badly paid post they hold. Of course, overtime is a necessity to ensure that bills are paid, so productivity goes up. Governments are desperate not to lose companies to their competitors, so labour laws are relaxed, making firing much easier (it's always been easy to hire, but people do tend to merge the two for the sake of a good cliche). All this is set against a backdrop of increased profits for companies who are now able to compete against China, India and Indonesia on profit margin and wages (relatively). It's Thatcher's first law of economics. Get back to the Mill, proles, and don't dare question the Mill owner's opinions.
We may soon be treated to the sights and sounds of George Osborne holding Greece up as the economic example to us all. If they can engineer a growing economy from dire straits, then all we have to do is follow their example and we will grow too. Besides, those pesky schools and hospitals are simply a drain on the taxpayer and don't produce anything of value. Quickly, nurse, the screens. If you don't believe that the present Government are thinking in this way, just consider the BBC news report revealing that 40% of graduates are working in jobs whose skill level is lower than their qualification: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13361769
The Chancellor may even introduce TINA to us again. "There Is No Alternative". But there is.
For many years, British industry has been crying out for a 'flexible' workforce. Well now would be the perfect time to give them what they want. It needs to be well defined, and should not mean that we all have the aptitude to work in a call centre. It involves partnerships between industry, employees, government and the educational sector. The Government should be introducing a 'National Training Credit', which could be used either by individuals or by businesses. Such a credit would pay for someone's vocational re-skilling in order that they can take the next step on their career route. As a nation, we spend a fortune on training courses for young people who, more often than not, take up apprenticeships, college places and work-based training only to find they want to change direction a few years down the line. Some of this money can be saved by companies taking on young people in working roles, with the promise of free training in the future.
For example, imagine a company which wants to break into eastern European markets. The National Training Credit could be used to send key sales staff on language courses while managers could attend relevant modules of International Relations courses. People who want to move into such posts could choose to use their Credit to undertake these courses with a view to promotion, giving the business a pool of talent that is well trained and prepared to move forward.
Despite what various Conservatives may wish, we will never compete with emerging economies on grounds of cost. Our living standards are far too high to drive wages down to the kind of levels we see in developing economies. Rather than revisiting the mistakes of the 80's and 90's, where huge British firms outsourced their production to cheaper nations, we should use the current economic climate to try something new. A high quality workforce, well trained and involved workforce, with everyone around the table embracing a flexibility that can be in everyone's interests.
A march in support of Government cuts managed to muster 350 attendees, almost a whole trainful. There is not a huge appetite for Britain to become a slash and burn haven. Nothing this Government has done in the previous 12 months has suggested that their sloganising is anything more than empty rhetoric. If the economy is to recover, we genuinely need to all be in this together.
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