This is a day on which you will need to know what a trillion looks like.
We are working on a physical representation of what a trillion pounds looks like. But just for guidance, go to YouTube (see below).
Why do we want to know? Because the chancellor, if he dares mention it, will today unveil what we’re all in for – and it’s got an awful lot of zeroes.
Interestingly, our indebtedness is not the worst in Europe, and is actually not the worst we’ve ever endured. It’s quite a lot smaller than the debt we ran up during the second world war – and somehow we recovered from that.
But today’s grim unemployment figures, 2.1 million, are a reminder that all this stuff is very far from notional. And the people responsible – beyond the political classes who set up the “light-touch regulation” which all parties favoured – number no more than a few thousand in terms of those who managed the institutions in which it all went on.
On this grim day, not one faces prosecution and not one is in jail.
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Truly excellent feature on the Tomlinson death on tonight’s program, but OH MY GAWD PLEASE no more on what people are twittering about topical issues I CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE!!! By all means have some kind of page on your website for this kind of thing, but please don’t take up valuable time on your programme with the trite ravings of the self-important idiots who make up the ‘TWITTERATI’
Jon
I know this may sound rather trivial in relation to the multi-trillion pound budget problems faced by the UK – but did you really say tonight that a pint of beer would be going up by “one pence”. Ouch!
What happened to the good old penny…?
It ended up being a great opening for a good programme tonight. I found Yvette Cooper rather annoying!
Here in Ireland, we are more than aware of the global slump.
However, what really flabbergasts me is how the British refuse to face up to the reality of the massive debt that they have accumulated, with some English friends being of the opinion that deficits are actually a good thing!
What will it take for it to sink in that at the point when the IMF take over the economy of your country, the chancellor will inform the PM that teachers, nurses, police, soldiers and binmen etc., cannot be paid. If further devaluation of sterling seems like a good idea, then remember this is simply increasing your debt.
Britain is now running the risk of becoming a basket case economy, and as our largest trading partner in Ireland this is hugely worrying. The British know that they will have to bite the bullet and take the pain, but to do this, they will have to learn to stop saying “…just not today”.
It is time for a drastic change and I find it amazing how the media supports Westminster’s view that there is only the choice of Labour or Conservative without ever explaining how the system is set up to support this.
When an issue on the environment is being discussed you never consider having a Green party member to give their view or on Europe UKIP etc. Our society has been shown that capitalism is not sustainable and yet the media seems to be ignoring the fact that we need modern, radical and progressive discussion.
Didn’t like the way Jonathan Miller put himself in the centre of the story by doing a piece to camera while walking in front of Winnie Mandela. Who, in the story, was more important there?
Why do reporters do this kind of thing? I remember a BBC news reporter doing a report during the Olympics, using the 100m sprint as a backdrop. This is becoming more common.
Jon:
*TRILLION* looks like many many thousands….
Wow, a trillion dollars is a LOT!
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