• ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.ml
      hexagon
      ·
      2 days ago

      Funny how we have a number of western economies that are clearly on the brink of collapse, yet western media keeps talking about an economy that's growing faster than any western economy as if it's about to collapse.

  • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
    ·
    2 days ago

    it was in recession earlier in the year too. not like there's been any real growth of the kind that actually helps normal people anyway, just total stagnation since 2008, the "recovery" was made up. thankfully i don't live in perfidious Britain but cries in western europe anyway doggirl-gloom

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.ml
      hexagon
      ·
      2 days ago

      Exactly, they've just been kicking the can down the road this whole time and pretending that everything is fine. Looks like they've finally run out of games they can play and the economic disaster is becoming impossible to hide.

  • Rom [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    Why is every economy always expected to grow indefinitely? Can't they just exist?

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.ml
      hexagon
      ·
      2 days ago

      While it's certainly true that an economy does not have to be structured around growth, and we do have to move away from the idea of constant growth to become sustainable, the fact is that the UK is a capitalist economy. When growth of a capitalist economy falters, the working class suffers disproportionately as business owners try to extract surplus value through wage cuts, longer hours, and speedups. Meanwhile, growing unemployment weakens bargaining power of the workers and austerity policies compound the suffering of those in need. So, in practical terms, the working majority in the UK will see a decline in their standard of living as a result of the economy stagnating.

      The silver lining here is that as contradictions sharpen, workers will become increasingly aware of their exploitation. Perhaps that might lead a sufficient number of people to start thinking about alternative ways to structure the economy.

      • Red_Scare [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
        ·
        2 days ago

        At this point Reform is literally the only viable "alternative" to status quo cause the left was decimated. If the economy collapses, we'll have pogroms and stuff.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.ml
          hexagon
          ·
          2 days ago

          The fact that we see the left collapsing across the west while the right continues to grow stronger is very concerning. It also shows that there is a complete lack of any serious alternative on the left.

    • GreatSquare@lemmygrad.ml
      ·
      2 days ago

      The economist "logic" is that when I charge you $1 for a banana I took off the banana tree, the economy grew $1.

      But because my rent is more than $1, we get the UK economy.

    • Red_Scare [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
      ·
      2 days ago

      Because that's how you make a profit. If profits are too low, nobody invests (or rather they invest in other, more profitable economies) and everything grinds to a halt.

      • Rom [he/him]
        ·
        2 days ago

        Sounds like a shitty system, maybe they should consider doing something else.

        • Red_Scare [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
          ·
          2 days ago

          As a wage worker myself, if I'm not increasing shareholder profits, then what's even the point, you know? It's in our nature, we're servile people.