Country Credit Ratings

I am no economist so perhaps someone out there can explain to me the beneficial uses of country and bank credit ratings.
It seems to me that some of them will be self-fulfilling prophecies as if  companies like Fitch downgrade a country then the cost of borrowing increases for that country putting it in a worse position than before.
Why do organisations and media talk down the world financial situation so much? We all know that the borrowing culture, by individuals, banks, countries has got out of hand and everyone needs to reign in their borrowing habit so why make the situation worse by spreading gloom and doom?
The UK situation looks brighter than we are led to believe. We are reducing our public spending in order to control borrowing. It does not take a genius to realise that this is the only course of action we can take as if taxation is increased then the public will borrow more, so reduction in spend is the only answer. Hopefully history will tell that we have a government that is putting the future of the country ahead of its own political fortunes.
Of course we will hear the usual political rhetoric from those who are on the other side, but that is what they do!! It has nothing to do with logic, reality or common sense.
It is a pity that we have political parties at all during this time as the pragmatic approach is the only one which will resolve the problems we currently have.
The coalition government will probably not have long enough to put in place all the actions we need to take and we will get a change of government too soon.
Remember, there are less than one million people in the membership of the parties that rule the country and more than 60 million people who are not members of any party, so we are governed by a tiny majority, although the current incumbents seem to be doing what the majority wish.
So let's get more positive, the media MUST curb their enthusiasm for bad news and their ill hidden joy at any thing which seems detrimental to us all.
The silent majority has the power to change the world if only they could be motivated to do so. Things can not be too bad yet or they would be uniting now. Small innefective groups such as "Occupy xxxxx" are distracting us from the solution.  It would be better if they used their enthusiasm to unite millions of others in a sensible course of action

More PUBLIC SERVANT strikes planned

Here we go again. Yet minority another group of public servants holding the taxpayers to ransom because they have the power ( but absolutely not the right ) to do so.

A 'day of action' on Thursday has been planned by the University and College Union (UCU). Members are angry at the plans to raise retirement age, increase contributions and closure of their final salary scheme.

Where have these "academics" been living for the last 10 years. MILLIONS of private sector workers have had to put up with these changes and have not been able to disrupt the country because they are not in unions, or their employers do not recognise unions. These millions who have suffered are the ones paying the salaries and a large percentage of the pensions that these academics enjoy.

Do they really expect 20 million people to put their hands in their pockets and pay them more out of sympathy? We really can not afford to have our earnings milked anymore by these minority groups. 

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said "University staff really value their pension rights and have made their views of the detrimental changes crystal clear" .

What the hell does she think the rest of us feel about having to pay more for our pensions, having them reduced and so having to work longer?

It is now a fact that pensions in the PUBLIC SECTOR are greater than those in the PRIVATE SECTOR.

Come on, you SILENT MAJORITY for your own sakes speak up now. Make your feelings known and tell these idiots that they can not expect us to fund them any more.

Other unions, including the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, are preparing to ballot members on possible strike action over pensions.

IF WE DON'T MAKE OUR VIEWS CLEAR THEY WILL TAKE US ALL FOR A RIDE.

Write to your MP's, tweet on twitter, comment on BLOGS, write to your local press. Do not sit at home and think "it doesn't really affect me". Of course it does and is part of the reason we are less well of than before and our standard of living will go down at the expense of those who are paid to serve the public.

I mentioned in my last blog the idea that there might be "food riots". This latest type of selfishness is much more likely to result in civil unrest than the cost of food increasing 

Food Riots

A senior economist at the worldwide bank HSBC has warned of civil unrest in Britain if food prices continue to soar. Speaking on Jeff Randall Live, senior global economist Karen Ward cautioned that the UK could experience the kind of food riots seen in other countries.
This type of comment is sheer sensationalism and really has no place in our society. People who make strong statements like this must be curbed for such irresponsibility.

If we want to do something about the economic effect on our lives then the power lies in the hands of 60 million people and not one idiotic economist. We do not need riots in this country as it will cost the taxpayers money again.
If we could get organised better it would only be necessary to put pressure on food and fuel retailers one at a time just to prove we can do it. Say, for example, a few million of the SILENT MAJORITY agreed to BOYCOTT a supermarket chain and a fuel retailer just for one week until they agreed to reduce their prices then ALL retailers would have to think twice before increaseing their prices as frequently as they do. This could also follow for utilities ( except water which is monopolised ) and services such as Sky television.
Food and fuel retailers seem to think it is acceptable to increase costs to the public in order to protect their income.
Our income does not increase as we have no way of doing so and therefore our personal "profit" decreases in difficult times.
It is time retailers reduced their profits in difficult times and spread the pain across the whole society instead of always taking it out on those who can ill afford the increases.
I understand that they feel they must protect their share prices and the shareholders, but we, the normal majority of people are the ones who constantly bear the brunt of the difficult times. It is time now to share the burden and change priorities.