Imports are the main cause of Unemployment

[SDP]

Geoffrey Collier

Lets take the example of the Bombardier contract. If those train carriages were made in Britain it would create jobs in Britain. David Cameron chose the German bid so the jobs will now go to Germany. Importing those 1.5 billion pounds worth of train carriages from Germany will create unemployment in Britain.

Having a huge trade defict of a billion pounds a week means that the above is happening on a very large scale.

(When I say trade deficit I mean the visible trade such as cars, and invisible trade such as insurance added together to make a total trade deficit for Britain).

[SDP]

The Social Democratic Party is the only party that supports a Buy British Campaign.

It is only by buying British that we can reduce imports into Britain.

And it is only by reducing imports that we can reduce unemployment.

The "Laisser Faire" economic policies of the Lib/Lab/Con will never reduce imports.

[Geoffrey Collier]

SDP: I think that you are confusing three separate things: unemployment, imports, and wealth creation. The basic and undeniable cause of unemployment is the fact that humans (labour intensive) have been replaced by machinery (capital intensive). I cannot think of an exception to that process. Import controls would be more efficient as a means of conserving capital out-flows than job creation. Wealth creation is more complex than 'getting your hands dirty'; it results from any economic activity which people want (or think they do) and are able and willing to purchase. A holiday resort is as much a wealth-creator as a dirty factory making a saleable product. Wealth is the result of purchasing power encountering a situation which facilitates an exchange. Wealth can also result from, or be impeded by, decision making. Ten acres of rough scrub land, for example, can be transformed into a multi-million pound building site once planning permission has be obtained.


We heard yesterday that 20,000 jobs are to be created by TESCO. Whether they will be full-time or part-time jobs has also not been disclosed.
In addition, how many of those jobs will be extra to those which already exist? Nissan will be creating 2000 new jobs for the Geordies. Again, that sounds good, but what is the reality? As a percentage of a 40 million workforce, its statistically trivial. Those jobs, incidentally, are not cheap. Nissan has been offered £9.3 million, on top of what they have received previously. From the same £2.4bn regional growth fund; Lotus, Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Getrag, Ford, Pirelli Tyres, G.M. and two Nissan suppliers, Unipres UK, and Vantee Europe. In addition, no doubt, their foreign orders will be underwritten by the Export Guarantee Dept. What is the total employment which has been created? You keep talking about laissez-faire; job creation by these means are very expensive, and has little to do with market forces.

[SDP]

Geoffrey Collier

I dont think that Tesco creates jobs, Tesco destroys all small local shops around the area of the superstore. Free out of town parking means that town centres cannot compete.

Tesco destroys jobs every where it goes.

[SDP]

Goeffrey Collier

What do you think of Ed Miliband's "Made in Britain" campaign launched on 6th March 2012.

[Geoffrey Collier]

Geoffrey Collier

I dont think that Tesco creates jobs, Tesco destroys all small local shops around the area of the superstore. Free out of town parking means that town centres cannot compete.

Tesco destroys jobs every where it goes.

SDP: What surprises me if that the retailing revolution was so much later than the manufacturing revolution. In an urban society, giant shops with their own parking facilities are necessary, logical, and the consequence of rational organisation. Why not launch an attack on all forms of mass production; why not have car manufactures all the same size as Morgans in Malvern? Do you really believe that exchanging a situation where just four or five retailers, Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons, Waitrose and the Co-op, dominate 85% of the market, will result from those interests stepping aside to accommodate the petty trades class? That would be an offence against the dictates of 'rational economic man'. The only way that could happen would be by the dictates of government power, and that would be an abuse of power. I have argued on many occasions that the fundamental problem is an economic system in which is a consumer society, has to live under a economic system created for a producer society. As an economic romantic why not nail your colours to the mast of agrarian economics? What do I think of Ed Miliband's 'Made in Britain ' campaign? It is sheer emotionalism. Make what they like in Britain; make it good, make it better than anyobe else; but it still won't make much difference to unemployment. Nissan are likely to produce 2000, new jobs in Sunderland, while G.M. are planning to reduce their labour force by the same number in Ellesmere Port. Think on these things.

[angelman]

I have been reading The Economist dated 25th March 2012. At the back of the magazine are statistics on unemployment and trade deficits.

Every country that has unemployment over 8% runs a trade deficit.

Every country that has unemployment under 4% rus a trade surplus.

(When I say trade deficit this includes invisibles incomes banking and insurances, and the official title is Current Accout Balance).

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bop/un...011/index.html

here is the relevant document - a little too much in detail. I found pages 29, 41 and 132 quite interesting.

[Roland]

SDP: To give that more credibility, how many countries do not conform to that pattern? High unemployment despite a trade surplus. Germany, for example, has a 6.6% unemployment rate, while having a £132Bn trade surplus. What definition for being unemployed is used? Are you saying, for example, that all Indians have a job apart from just 10.8% of them? This is the type of nonsense that one would expect to read in the Readers Digest, not the Economist. China has a very good trade surplus, but what unemployment rate do they claim exists in that country?

I'm in total agreement with the above.

I can't quite believe this was even in the economist. Of the same figures you could make any argument, you could make the argument that 0.6% unemployment in Thailand is because there is no welfare state and people have to work.

But as Geoffrey has said unless the method for measuring unemployment is the same for all countries taking account of all the same variables then how on earth can any reasonable conclusion be made.

[Roland]

Geoffrey Collier

I dont think that Tesco creates jobs, Tesco destroys all small local shops around the area of the superstore. Free out of town parking means that town centres cannot compete.

Tesco destroys jobs every where it goes.

First of all who is to blame for town parking charges?

It was not Tesco that destroyed the local town it was normally local councils trying to screw it's local populace out of every last penny. I don't know if you've noticed but towns have started to move out of the town and onto industrial estates.

I personally feel that if their is one thing a local council could do to support it's local inhabitants prosperity, it would be to do as much as possible to make the place an attractive a place for those out side to come visit and when they do they will spend their money.

I live in a town just outside London and at the moment it is run down and just has a reputation for being full of pikies. The amazing thing is it has a beautiful park, a river, and a train station that goes absolutely ever where. But there is no where to park. All it would take is one great big commuter car park just over the road from the station that there is room for and I doubt it would take long before private investment would follow.

The same is true of a country if you want investment make it an attractive place to invest. We are not in the league of a country like Singapore or Thailand we don't have to compete on that level. We are a country of well educated people. The idea that all industry has to offer is standing on a production line is a misconception, but we need to make the country some where that those who see Britain as an ideal place to invest will not be scared away from investing in the same way parking charges scare people away from the town over regulation and taxation scare investors out of the country.

[Traditionalist]

First of all who is to blame for town parking charges?

It was not Tesco that destroyed the local town it was normally local councils trying to screw it's local populace out of every last penny. I don't know if you've noticed but towns have started to move out of the town and onto industrial estates.

I personally feel that if their is one thing a local council could do to support it's local inhabitants prosperity, it would be to do as much as possible to make the place an attractive a place for those out side to come visit and when they do they will spend their money.

I live in a town just outside London and at the moment it is run down and just has a reputation for being full of pikies. The amazing thing is it has a beautiful park, a river, and a train station that goes absolutely ever where. But there is no where to park. All it would take is one great big commuter car park just over the road from the station that there is room for and I doubt it would take long before private investment would follow.

The same is true of a country if you want investment make it an attractive place to invest. We are not in the league of a country like Singapore or Thailand we don't have to compete on that level. We are a country of well educated people. The idea that all industry has to offer is standing on a production line is a misconception, but we need to make the country some where that those who see Britain as an ideal place to invest will not be scared away from investing in the same way parking charges scare people away from the town over regulation and taxation scare investors out of the country.

The three main reasons for the destruction of British town centres is out of twon choppings complexes, immigration and crime.