Was it a satisfactory answer to your question?

Joke isn’t it lol

This is quite the hot take; RL fails to develop outside the heartlands, because socialism.

That will take some beating.

Probably not, to be fair.

It is both more interesting and more difficult to discuss stuff with people you disagree with than those with whom you agree.




It’s an answer, sorta, and I’d miss ‘em if they all effed off to their echo chamber and left us in ours. The mutual horror does all good, I reckon.

How long do you think it is going to take to wash out the impact of some guy in China who liked eating bats? If we are still not feeling the impact of this in 10 years I will be very surprised.

It was not a criticism of Labour - I know you lefties are very sensitive to any poke in the ribs



Global issues like this takes years to overcome.

Thank God they have all that PPE you bought them - they need something to pin it to

Nobody would have got this 100% correct - something on this scale has never happened before - so your expectations were unrealistic.

All politicians tell lies - Blair told us there were WMD!! - so just for once give them some slack.

The captains of industry like Bren2k were slow to react - he thinks he is the greatest!! so what chance have simple - no very simple public servants have of coping - nil. It is no surprise that is it the private sector that is coming up with quick innovative solutions - your beloved public sector simply isn't that agile.

Could we have done things - of course we could - this is balance between short term public health and longer term economic health - do we sacrifice the well being of millions longer term to save ten of thousands short term - you think you are a one stop panacea for what's right - so come clever clogs what would you have done?

Told you what I would have done - isolate the vulnerable continue as normal - don't wreck the economy for what wouldn't have been a lot different to a normal year of flu deaths. Harsh yes but if you had ever run a business you would know you have to make decisions that protect the majority.

Sat in your lofty seat I would have thought that was bloody obvious - especially to an intellectual colossus like you (sic) very easy to stand outside the fire

You do remember saying this wasn't going to be anything near as bad as the 2007 banking crisis dont you, after all, it was about 3 weeks ago.

Was it a Bat or a Pangolin - it's increddible what really poor people have to eat isn't it.
Others have to drink dirty, contaminated water.

Talking of the financial crisis, I read the Big Short recently. Some of the structural flaws in the system were ridiculous.

When the banks pulled together loads of rotten loans from different sources into bonds and their derivatives, they were able to get AAA ratings because they were ‘diversified’. And, y’know, they were paying Moody’s and S&P who were in competition to earn fees for providing the ratings. US federal bank regulators, of which there were several including the wonderfully-named Office of Thrift Supervision, did not receive a government budget, instead competing with each other to gain funding from the banks they regulated, with lax supervision being a selling point.

Increasingly, I don’t think economic and societal success, however measured, is so much about socialism versus capitalism, as it is about about avoiding (or at least minimising), in any system, loopholes, inconsistencies, bad incentives and structural defects that will be exploited for narrow benefit at wider cost.

We are still feeling the impact of the banking crisis - your kids tried to get a mortgage recently!! That 12 years ago and we are still feeling that impact - this wont be as long but it will change things fundamentally - my view is a complete reset of the economy by 20% and off we go from a new lower bar.

My understanding is bats and the likes are considered delicacies by the better off Chinese?

Just think how much money we have raised to give people clean water and still they don't have any!!

Come on you can do better than this - being the intellectual super human you think you are

I suppose it depends which section of society you found yourself in. There'd never been so much money sloshing around in some quarters only a couple of years later. The rest of us had to 'tighten our belts' for a decade.

Because investment returns are so low - investors are looking to find places to maximise returns - I doubt very much the monies extended to PE firms in the past will be available in the future - given that virtually every investment they have will be in special measures right now.

Salaries in the private sector have seen very slow growth despite what all the lefties on here will say - there may be big money in the city and MD of listed companies making huge salaries - these are the exception and their life span in the top job is often short.

I know, I didn't get one for 5 years, so I left the company. The people still working there are on the same wages they were on in 2008.

I agree this was changing in the last couple of years as the natural supply/demand proposition started to kick in and wages were rising - it hasn't been easy.

Ford are offering 10% on new bonds. Plenty of opportunities in a crisis, ask Farage and Rees Smug.

Having worked in the public sector, at the fore front of social care delivery, you know, personal care, getting qualifications, believing in what I do, catching illness off the people I'm looking after, going into management, back into the fore front, turning up at people's houses when everything's gone wrong, having the people I work for (not my employer in the public sector, the people who I try and sort out their lives for) for over twenty five years, it's inspiring to hear that we've been making up the lack of PPE, we're lazy, we strike at any given opportunity, it's our own fault.
Thanks.
You known what?
We'll still turn up tomorrow.
Because despite what people think this isn't about money (how many of you company owners would do this for any money.) Thatcher and politics for us, we do this because it's what we believe.
We, stupidly, believe in a fairer society.
Sorry about that.
We accept the pretty rubbish pay and I'm very grateful not to be furloughed, but we're still out there every day, we don't want clapping on the door step, but is there any chance people could stop telling us how cack we are?

I don't think anyone is saying that - the social care sector needs a re-think - with so many older people the current system simply isn't fit for purpose

We are "sorry if you feel that way".....
Does anybody know when the "strict" lockdown is going to start? the press have been going on about it for weeks now and there is still no sign of it.

F**k the Tories and f**k whoever voted for them. The NHS are set to run out of fresh full gowns and are preparing to ask doctors and nurses to reuse single use gowns.

Grow up please.

They've gone from delivering to 280 ish hospital locations to over 50000 locations in the space of weeks.

They didn't have the equipment stored for such an outbreak plus there has been changes to PPE guidelines, not forgetting the global demand for PPE.

But hey f*ck all the Tory voters. Tool

“UK Covid-19 death toll surpasses 15,000 as 888 people die with coronavirus in last 24 hours”

Yes f**k all the Tory voters. They elected a Government totally inadequate (I would not be surprised if it is deliberate) in dealing with this virus.

What an insightful and thoughtful contribution