aggregate gender pay gap = gender pay gap

In this post-referendum vacuum, Carney alone can't save the UK economy - Getting productivity going again will require more investment in innovation and our universities. It means more help for businesses that want to update their production lines, overhaul their IT systems or retrain their staff. Productivity will only improve if the UK addresses its skills shortages with sensible immigration policies and with better training. In an age of economic insecurity, training is key if the march of the robots is not to further exacerbate inequality. Similarly, the UK must get serious about moving to an apprenticeship system that has parity of esteem. - http://bit.ly/29cCmtq

velocity is at 57yr low - WOW! the money that is in circulation is in less hands! the econ expanded according to GDP, but less and less $ reach on avg each hand. - "This is serious. The velocity of money tracks how often each dollar is used to buy something in the economy. Falling velocity shows that consumers and business are pulling back… becoming more reluctant to spend and invest… downsizing… and holding onto dollars rather than spending them. This has a similar effect as reducing the supply of money bidding for goods and services. Prices drop. Deflation, in other words. The bubble has developed a leak. The hot air is gushing out." //&! bit.ly/1MOxc9A //&! research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/M2V &! pieria.co.uk/articles/getting_things_wrong_federal_reserve_style - it is associated with stagnant NGDP [...] demand problem.

companies cut back on perks, lunch breaks, and paid overtime arrangements. or change work arrangement; change to being self-employed contractor. //&! As predicted Osborne's national living wage is a con - youtu.be/MQfEWTN5hR4 - cut of overtime and weekend pay bonus. - ALSO THERE COMES AGE DISCRIMINATION. BECAUSE starts not for students!/<25years old! //&! bbc.co.uk/news/business-36082247 - Osborne warns firms not to cut perks on back of National Living Wage

Fund’s steering committee calls for more forceful stimulus and warns monetary policy alone is not enough //&! http://www.theguardian.com/business/imf //&! bit.ly/1V9pfhD - IMF chief: regulators long 'alarmed' over Panama's handling of taxation. Christine Lagarde responds to Panama Papers revelations, noting that authorities were concerned but did not take ‘expected’ action.

[TORIES CRISIS: bedroom tax, JSA sanctions killing people, Food Banks, redefining child poverty and fuel poverty, Independent Living Fund closed, Housing Crisis, tax cut defeat in Lords, mental health, NHS strikes, Hinkley Point C, energy prices, London Airport expansion/3rd runway, ESA cut, PIP cut and resignation of IDS, Brexit splitting the Party, shit world economy, can't touch triple-lock pensions, Academy plans, Panama Papers (British Territory: Bahamas, Cayman & Co).] Now - Tories are victims to their own policy of underinvestment since 2010 of a future-proof economy "long-term predictability" [BREXIT & austerity not predictable]. Energy prices too high, not competitive. Manufacturing never recovered. Monetary policy has run its course (sedative + Chinas credit bubble). policy folly now wholly exposed! AND now they tinker with the idea of picking winners! LOL! nationalising or part-nationalising through guarantees or subsidies on energy price. & youtu.be/QJw24Z-cEoQ

An entertaining, provocative film in which Ian explores the colourful history behind one of the most explosive issues of our times - welfare: who deserves to be helped, and who doesn't. [... ] all hate, no heart. just spreadsheets. at Whitehall, no 11. [...] Benefit Street = victorian freak show/circus of curiosities [...] writing about others, "othering" them. demonising them or putting them on pedestals, making them saints. [...] IDS "a single mother wo aspiration is a product of the system" would correct that, a product of her environment (society) [ie gentrification - poor living w poor door to door. and everyone is looking down on them.].

[ UC is a backdoor welfare cut ] Changes to be introduced on Monday will push more low-paid working families into poverty, charities say. Tens of thousands of low-paid working families can expect to lose up to £200 a month as a result of changes to universal credit introduced on Monday – the first wave of £3bn in welfare cuts that will affect 1m households by 2020. [...] a full-time single parent would have to work a 14-month year. [...] The cuts stem from changes in the work allowance unveiled by the chancellor, George Osborne, in his summer budget a year ago. These drastically reduced the amount people can earn before low-wage top-ups are withdrawn at the rate of 65p per £1 earned.

[ conditions are permanent, more and more people live life in those conditions ]

never seen David Cameron red-faced, so much! [...] sold in 2010!? And what was before that time? The time he was a MP!? [...] we are not all in this together, for sure! // book the hidden wealth of nations. - 7-8trn tax evasion and avoidance - not taxed. //&! Rumble - Just like FDR - Bernie Welcomes the GE CEO Hatred... - youtu.be/jT7NIoDS1gw - taking advantage of the tax laws THEY MADE.

For example, as automation increases, computers and machines will replace workers across a vast spectrum of industries, from drivers to accountants and estate agents to insurance agents. By one estimate, as many as 47 percent of U.S. jobs are at risk from automation. Many experts suggest that the fourth industrial revolution will benefit the rich much more than the poor, especially as low-skill, low-wage jobs disappear in favor of automation.

But this isn’t new. Historically, industrial revolutions have always begun with greater inequality followed by periods of political and institutional change. The industrial revolution that began at the beginning of the 19th century originally led to a huge polarization of wealth and power, before being followed by nearly 100 years of change including the spread of democracy, trade unions, progressive taxation and the development of social safety nets.

On the surface, the March jobs reported was better than expected... except for manufacturing workers. As shown in the chart below, in the past month, a disturbing 29,000 manufacturing jobs were lost. This was the single biggest monthly drop in the series going back to December 2009. But not all is lost: as has been the case for virtually every month during the "recovery", virtually every laid off manufacturing worker could find a job as a waiter: in March, the workers in the "Food services and drinking places" category, aka waiters, bartenders and minimum wage line cooks, rose again to a new record high of 11,307,000 workers, an increase of 25K in the month, offsetting virtually all lost manufacturing jobs. This is how the two job series have looked since the start of 2015: 24k manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past 14 months compared to an increas of 365K food service workers.

weaker outlook for income tax receipts & economy/global economy >> OBR has done 'no projections' on impact of Brexit: Robert Chote - BBC Newsnight - youtu.be/A0jvIUKTU1U //&! Budget 2016: Evan Davis grills Sajid Javid on the numbers - BBC Newsnight - youtu.be/L0TBTbfNgCw - "WE HAD THE BIGGEST BANK BAILOUT" //&! NICKY MORGAN ON TORY WELFARE ROW - BBC Newsnight - youtu.be/IC_Yhggk62o

AirbnB und andere Firmen tun so, als hätten sie eine soziale Mission. Doch laut dem Buchautor Tom Slee beuten sie ihre Angestellten schlimmer aus als herkömmliche Firmen - und begünstigen totale Überwachung. // SPIEGEL: Es gibt Ökonomen, die sehen in diesen neuen Jobs auch eine Chance.

Slee: Diese Jobs schaffen ein neues Prekariat. Die dahinterstehenden Plattformen tarnen sich als Innovation, bauen aber auf unbegrenzte Verfügbarkeit und darauf, Arbeitsgesetze auszuhebeln und alles Risiko den Kleinunternehmern aufzuhalsen. [...] SPIEGEL: Uber und Co gerieren sich oft als Plattformen für freie Miniunternehmer. Sind sie das wirklich?

Slee: Die Leute sind scheinselbstständig, oft werden sie wie Angestellte behandelt. Tatsächlich haben sie etwa die Pflicht, 90 Prozent der angeforderten Fahrten anzunehmen, sonst werden sie gefeuert.

In the end, only a couple of the San Francisco Lyft staffers decided to go to Nashville. Some scrambled to find new jobs in the company, and the rest got severance and left. Six months later, two people I talked to are still looking for jobs, in a city that boasts a 3.4 percent unemployment rate. “I feel a little burned by this experience,” said one. “There’s just this understanding that if you work for customer service in the tech world you’re not valued. Those are soft skills, and associated with women, they’re not super valued.” [...] With their skills deemed better suited to Nashville, Lyft’s workers can’t help but internalize another message about whether they belong in increasingly Darwinian San Francisco. “It doesn’t make any fucking sense to live in one of the most expensive areas in the country and work in nonprofit development,” one told me.
Another customer service worker I’d talked to from a big software company decided that if she wanted to stick around the Bay Area, it was time to teach herself to code.

Uber for X // Startups that deliver what you want, when you want it — like Uber, but for groceries, laundry, munchies, etc. — are revamping their business plans or shutting down entirely. It turns out that the on-demand model is so cash-intensive that it only really works if you're, well, Uber.

// higher in-work poverty

It wasn't so much "here's a rabbit from the hat" but more: "look over there - a squirrel!" [...] [Productivity] turned out disappointingly again. And that's knocked back the growth estimates for the economy, as well as for pay, for tax revenue, and for company profits over the rest of the decade.
Britain's not alone in that. But keeping company with the USA on such numbers is not that reassuring. [...] And as that is the main, long-term driver of real pay, it means Britain's standard of living will improve from the recession, but at only two thirds of the rate we've come to expect. [ Recovery ] average year saw only 0.1% per year.

Like Sherlock Holmes, we must look in this Budget for the dogs that do not bark. Four years out from a general election, this is the time in the political cycle when chancellors can take unpopular decisions. A moment, perhaps, for a big reform to our pensions or taxation. Yet the mood music emerging from the Treasury is distinctly adagio. [...] Genuinely radical plans to overhaul pension tax relief have been put on hold for fear of upsetting middle and higher earners. Proposals to cut the 45p top rate of tax are said to have gone the same way. [...] [OBR] is expected to say that the British economy is smaller than the watchdog had expected it would be when it made that prediction. As such, the Treasury would get less than it had expected in tax revenues.

[2015] 80% OF ECONOMY CONSUMER SPENDING! - The economy has enjoyed what Andrew Goodwin of Oxford Economics describes as a "sugar rush" -the equivalent of a big tax cut - or 'fiscal stimulus' - through lower petrol prices. The economy grew by 2.2% last year; 80% of that growth was down to consumer spending. "That [growth] strikes us as some distance below par given the tailwinds we have had," Mr Goodwin says. And after the sugar rush comes the sugar crash: growth is likely to be revised down in the years to come because of global economic weakness.

In order to generate artificial economic growth, the ECB wants banks to make as many loans as possible, no matter how stupid or idiotic. They believe that economic growth is simply a function of loans. The more money that’s loaned out, the more the economy will grow. This is the sort of theory that works really well in an economic textbook. But it doesn’t work so well in a history textbook. Cheap money encourages risky behavior. It gives banks an incentive to give ‘no money down’ loans to homeless people with no employment history. It creates bubbles (like the housing bubble from 10 years ago), and ultimately, financial panics (like the banking crisis from 8 years ago). Banks are supposed to be conservative, responsible managers of other people’s money. When central bank policies penalize that practice, bad things tend to happen.

most of the jobs that were created, if only on a goalseeked, seasonally adjusted basis, were of the lowest paying, worst possible quality as has been the case for the past 7 years as the BLS desperately seeks to "pad" its political mandate of providing proof in a recovery which however is impossible if it were to tell the truth. //&! https://www.reddit.com/r/Economics/comments/48xbro/jobs_report_242000_jobs_added_unemployment_rate/d0njzvb //&! http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-04/past-year-us-added-360000-waiters-and-only-12000-manufacturing-workers &! http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-04/president-obama-takes-economic-victory-lap-after-biggest-wage-drop-record

Nilay talks with Walt about his criticism of Apple lately regarding the decline in quality of software on both mobile and desktop. // "You can't replace Steve Jobs." ... even he had flops. mobile me. [...] Apple maps was not ready to ship. [...] [Quality issue comes w the massive scale Apple is at now?]

From crops to energy and metals, average material consumption fell from 15 tonnes in 2001 to just over 10 tonnes in 2013 [...] UK households have also abandoned buying many resource-intensive goods common in the recent past – such as metal-heavy video recorders and hi-fi systems, vinyl records, CDs and books – as they shift to digital consumption. [...] The figures will spark fresh speculation that Britain and other developed economies have hit ‘peak stuff’, although some critics pour scorn on the quality of the ONS’s environmental accounts. In January, Ikea said the appetite of western consumers for home furnishings had reached its peak and consumption of many familiar goods was at its limit. Household spending on physical goods, including furnishings, clothing, cars and gadgets, decreased between 2002/03 and 2014, [...] Households now spend more on services than physical goods, he said. [...] [ saturation in some markets but we are not living in peak stuff ]

The former Bank of England governor says in his new book that imbalances in the global economy makes a crash inevitable [...] GFC was the fault of the financial system, not individual greedy bankers, in his new book, The End Of Alchemy: Money, Banking And The Future Of The Global Economy [...] “Without reform of the financial system, another crisis is certain, and the failure ... to tackle the disequilibrium in the world economy makes it likely that it will come sooner rather than later,” Lord King wrote. [...] global central banks were caught in a “prisoner’s dilemma” - unable to raise interest rates for fear of stifling the economic recovery, the newspaper reported. [... blame] broken financial system. [...] failure of a system, and the ideas that underpinned it, [...] “Only a fundamental rethink of how we, as a society, organise our system of money and banking will prevent a repetition //&! dailym.ai/21tPG5y

[ LOL! ] But recent figures showing the UK economy was smaller than expected meant savings must be found in his Budget statement on 17 March, he said. [...] Mr Osborne said he would rather look for extra cuts now than risk breaking his own manifesto commitment to achieve a surplus in the budget by the end of this Parliament. The chancellor did not completely rule out raising taxes in the event of a further slowdown in growth, but said that now was not the time for "significant" tax hikes. [...] I'm absolutely clear we've got to root our country in the principle that we live within our means and that we have economic security." [...] "whole purpose of our economic plan was to have a budget surplus. [...] we got big challenges at home to make the economy more productive even as more people get work. [ because having part of your budget in the property bubble is so productive ] [...] I will do what is required to keep our country safe and secure." [ NOT CHANGING PLANS ie U-TURN ]

[ putting investment decisions and plans on hold! ] Christine Lagarde warns that uncertainty over outcome ‘will be bad in and of itself’ in months leading up to vote [...] But the IMF’s annual health check said “the relatively positive outlook is subject to risks and uncertainties”, including a global slowdown, sluggish productivity growth, a large trade deficit, still-high levels of household debt, and the forthcoming referendum on EU membership. It said any sign of weakness in growth should be met with higher spending by the Treasury. The UK authorities should explore “both revenue and expenditure measures, while protecting spending in priority areas, including healthcare, education, and infrastructure”. The report emphasised that “flexibility in the fiscal framework should be used to modify the pace of adjustment in the event of weaker demand growth”. [ moderates and politicians, wisely worded! no instructions. no direct criticism. ]

ind.pn/1Qc5SxH bit.ly/1KJQjAE bit.ly/1SV92vy bit.ly/1oBBh5k [ 2nd jobs bc first does only cover bills ] Even if Talia was the most frugal millennial in all the land, she’d still be living beyond her means. In the Bay Area, that is shockingly easy to do, thanks in part to companies like her former employer that have driven rents sky-high with no ceiling in sight. Income inequality is a huge problem in this country, especially in the Bay Area. Yelp’s answer to that, by the way, appears to be to just move the lower wage jobs to Phoenix, rather than pay the employees it has in San Francisco more. Charming. //&! https://twitter.com/hankgreen/status/702488056645992449 - women in the workplace ... //&! https://twitter.com/polotek/status/702025499782950912 bootstap yourself

- Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. - How successful you are depends on how much s--- you're willing to put up with. [...] Today, the current economic situation is testing Millennials' grit. Unfortunately, some are making critical mistakes that are costing them opportunities for advancement. In other cases, like the woman from Yelp, they're even getting fired.

[ white elephant! lol & the double standard of Google paying 2% tax vs small businesses full 18%+ and not getting investment, R&D loans ] Will Hull thrive or suffer if transport is radically improved to the eastern fringe of the Powerhouse? There's no way of telling. Some people think investment in skills, education and training would be a more certain way of improving productivity - and business leaders are keen to ensure that these key elements are not forgotten in the rush for steel and tarmac. I asked former CBI director-general John Cridland, who is now head of Transport for the North, if there was any certainty that spending billions on infrastructure would improve productivity. He agreed there was no proof, but urged people to take a leap of faith - like the Victorian engineers.

[#misrepresentation - FOI request to HMRC - job creation, ask for list of annual salary 2009 - till now - picture emerges of mostly low pay jobs. with more and more job qualifying for tax credits. ask also for numbers of tax credits during the "recovery" and also income based job seeker allowance, people just working 16hrs or less. - also housing benefit. / also the numbers and incomes for self-employed and their income development during the recovery, do they grow their income? or do they make ends meet? ] The best example of this is when looking at the growth of federal income and employment tax withholdings, the broadest and most timely read on the health of the job market, which as Jed Graham writes, "has been sinking at an alarming rate." While for most of 2015, tax withholdings rose at a rate of 5% or more from a year ago, on the back of job growth and gains in wages, commissions and other incentive pay, in recent months there has been a substantial dropoff in this key indicator.

// private sector, though debt, will take up the slack ... till it can't any more // Confidence Fairy //

living wage starts from 21? 25? // retail big! high street big! - service sector. no manufacturing ... // IT IS CORPORATE SUBSIDY - PROGRAM FOR LOW PAY! // very far from Germay model! // tax payer pays for people in high street! // Ofsted found inadequate conditions! AND SMALL MINORITY GET ACTUALLY A FULL-TIME JOB! LOL LOL LOL! // Social Market Foundation (research) found lvl2 apprenticeship adds nothing to purse over a lifetime. // its DWP policy to get young people off the paper onto other paper largely, still funded, by the gov - still adding to budget deficit. // Ofsted concerned over apprenticeships "wasting public funds" // WHAT A TORY SPIN! // retail places have shot up, and construction plummeted! the latter is harder or put through training providers ( private companies, PRIVATISATION! ). employers are not in charge. to quote one employee of a training provider "meet targets, get money in" its about the # of apprenticeships, not the quality or economic need/industry. //

Despite at least one adult working full time, millions of households cannot make ends meet, Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports [...] Millions of households struggle to make ends meet even though they include at least one adult in full-time work, according to a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). Living standards have declined since 2008 despite the economy’s return to growth, the anti-poverty charity said, warning that families with children are at particular risk of a life in poverty. [...] The MIS is determined by asking members of the public to define what is needed to “live to an adequate level”. The threshold is £16,850 for a single person, £25,600 for a lone parent with one child and £36,060 for a single breadwinner with two children. [...] Approximately 11.6 million people in the UK live below the MIS, [...] An improving economy alone is not guaranteed to reverse this rise.” [...] [ no economic security in this recovery! ]

Quantitative easing (QE) stabilized the economy but also exacerbated wealth disparity between rich and poor, mainly by boosting financial asset prices and house prices. //&! [ LOW PAY MINIMUM WAGE JOB CREATION ] During the U.K.’s recent “jobs-rich, pay-poor” economic recovery, strong employment gains were accompanied by a further rise of already high wage dispersion and an ever-growing share of part-time employment in lower income groups. //&! In the context of the tight housing market, low interest rates and QE are among the drivers behind the widening wealth and income gap between younger and older generations and between those on the housing ladder and those not on it. //&! Inequality is damaging! // bit.ly/1QtauyZ - Bank of England's recovery policies have increased inequality, finds S&P [...] spending too much on rent, not able to save for deposit! //&! bit.ly/1PPyEYl &! ti.me/1sbBtrz

[ continued financialisation of economy / faustian pact ] QE and low interest rates have disproportionately created wealth in the financial sector and inflated asset bubbles. It has done little for the real economy. The rules of the market need to be rewritten [...] dominant policies during the post-crisis period – fiscal retrenchment and quantitative easing (QE) by major central banks – have offered little support to stimulate household consumption, investment, and growth. On the contrary, they have tended to make matters worse. In the US, quantitative easing did not boost consumption and investment partly because most of the additional liquidity returned to central banks’ coffers in the form of excess reserves. [...] private investment did not grow [...] [ QE supported only financial sector and zombie banks and corporations, little to nothing went into the real economy for investment in western world ] [ which leads us to say we are still in a banking crisis per se ]

Nevertheless, the UK’s goods trade gap with the rest of the world widened by £1.9bn to a record high of £125bn in 2015. Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “UK exports have clearly struggled in recent months, as they have been hampered by sterling’s overall strength in 2015, particularly against the euro, and moderate global demand. [...] Recent declines in the value of sterling are expected to support exports sales, though the deteriorating global situation could mitigate against an improved exchange rate. [...] “Nonetheless, any progress in reducing the trade deficit is likely to be extremely slow in the near term, leaving the recovery reliant on domestic demand.” [...] [ you can lower your corp tax, but if your country is shitty in business environment ie infrastructure and employee qualifications and immigration ... nobody wants to do business ]

The chancellor faces lower GDP and lower tax receipts as a result. So it’s vital that consumers’ desire to keep spending isn’t hit by a nasty shock from the Bank [ // Confidence Fairy // ] The Bank of England has downgraded its forecasts for the UK’s GDP growth and the outlook for wages, most likely robbing the exchequer of vital income tax receipts. And without the funds to maintain pensions and health service spending, his critics will gleefully play back the speech from last November during which he declared that Britain was on the road to becoming “the most prosperous and secure of all the major nations of the world”. [...] Yet his words ring hollow when so many of the post-crash problems are still with us, from the burden of high private and public debts to Europe’s rapidly ageing population, which encourage saving over investment, and a reluctance from government and big business to boost capital spending.

Many have argued that we overstate the importance of housing and household debt in explaining the Great Recession and weak recovery. They point to the banking crisis, policy uncertainty, or excessive regulation as equally or even more important. The data released today by the BEA show pretty clearly that the arguments we make in House of Debt remain relevant for thinking about economic weakness today. In our view, the explanation we provide is the most consistent with the striking difference in consumption across states. // From Comments: Without real median income rising you can’t grow in an economy based on debt expansion

Online fashion retailer Nasty Gal has laid off 10 percent of its staff, as the purveyor of edgy women’s clothing cuts costs amid an uncertain financing and retail environment. CEO Sheree Waterson told the company in an email that the cuts were necessary as the “market in which we operate is changing, both in retail broadly and apparel specifically.” Nineteen employees across several departments were let go. Nasty Gal also laid off some staff in 2014. The layoffs underscore the difficulty mature e-commerce startups can encounter as they transition from being a hot new brand to the long slog of building a more traditional retail business. In short, building a retail brand is really hard and technology can only afford you so many shortcuts along the way. Online beauty brand BirchBox announced layoffs of 15 percent of its staff last week, as startups in e-commerce tighten belts as investors become more wary of unprofitable growth.

The UK's recent growth, employment progress and deficit reduction have been "strong", the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. Underlying economic vulnerabilities, including the supply and demand for housing, have been addressed and steady growth looks set to continue, it said. The IMF's Christine Lagarde said there were still some risks.

The UK economy currently gets nowhere near its target of 2%. Inflation would decrease the value of current debts, making them less of a burden. In a world without much inflation, it is hard to get wages up. The worse case scenario is that debt costs increase, as prices and wages stagnate. [ ignoring debt and income growth - stagnation at their peril - youtu.be/KIaXVntqlUE - gov is no household budget, Steve Keen + Richard Koo ] [...] And in this age of austerity, these factors will work against governments seeking to reduce the welfare bill. Recent data shows that, in UK cities, growing numbers of low paid jobs have led to rising claims for welfare such as housing benefits, defeating the government’s aims to reduce spending.

[ great picture of IDS. redistribution from bottom to the top. ] THE TORY government been attacked over plans to extend controversial benefit sanctions to claimants with jobs, with critics warning introducing the "shockingly harsh" penalties risks plunging workers into poverty. A number of pilot schemes are currently being carried out in the UK – including in Inverness – to assess a new scheme which the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) says is aimed at helping workers on low earnings take on more hours and increase their income. Benefits can be stopped if claimants fail to meet requirements outlined by the DWP – such as missing Jobcentre appointments or failing to show evidence of looking for more work for a certain number of hours a week, on top of their usual job.

multiplier effect of service sector job = 1 or lower. meaning need to access tax credits. //&! Northern Powerhouse dept to close Sheffield office and move 247 jobs to London. - Government business department shuts largest non-London office George Osborne’s ‘northern powerhouse’ policy questioned as branch closure in Sheffield casts doubt on chancellor’s pledge to revitalise English cities - bit.ly/1PDlgSA // also northern councils have to cut deeper than souther because of lower tax base!

No Scottish cities were in the top 10 for "low-wage, high-welfare" economies. The 2016 report - described as a "health check" for the 63 largest UK cities - focused on Chancellor George Osborne's vow to build a "higher wage, lower welfare" economy, as set out in the Summer Budget 2015. >> It argued that nearly a million new jobs had been created in cities since 2010 - but that the average salary had also dropped by £1,300 per resident. 'High-wage, low-welfare' << [...] The think tank said the two areas' ability to attract high-skilled jobs - in the oil and professional services industries for example - was the key to their success. It argued that cities with high wages had seen faster jobs growth, with employment rising by 10% since 2010, compared with 3% in low-wage cities. [...] [ Housing Crisis across the country thus ] increased housing benefit payments.

Alternativen und Politik. Der Freitag stellt sich bewusst außerhalb dieses Mainstreams. Darin liegt seine Existenzberechtigung aber auch seine Ohnmacht. Das ist das Paradox linker Gegenöffentlichkeit. Wir können den Strom in seinem Lauf nicht ändern. Aber wir haben einen anderen Blick. Wir nehmen für uns in Anspruch, Denkort der Alternativen zu sein. Damit arbeiten wir an der Rückeroberung des politischen Raumes. Denn der Satz von den Alternativen, die es angeblich nicht gibt, ist das Ende von Politik. Den Vorwurf des Populismus muss man sich dann hin und wieder gefallen lassen. Der Philosoph Ernesto Laclau hat geschrieben, Populismus sei „die Stimme derer, die aus dem System exkludiert sind“. Ein gefährlicher Satz, wenn man nach Dresden blickt,

MINISTERS are to meet Amazon bosses to discuss concerns over pay and working conditions at the online retail giant, as it emerged that the firm is set to create hundreds of new jobs in Scotland this year. The Scottish Government will attempt to persuade the company to pay the living wage to workers, after Nicola Sturgeon was challenged over claims that its warehouses are an "exceptionally horrible place" to work despite it being backed millions in public grants. [...] in-work poverty

Weak economic data is casting doubt on the future performance of the UK economy, with inflation persistently well below the Bank of England's 2% target and earnings growth slowing down from a six-year high. Earlier this month, figures for November showed that UK industrial output had suffered its sharpest decline since 2013. Looking further ahead, investors are worried about the outcome of a referendum on the UK's continued membership of the EU. As Andy Scott of foreign exchange services firm HiFX put it: "Concerns over the UK economy and the risk of a Brexit look likely to continue to haunt sterling." Traders are also generally more risk-averse in the light of the global turmoil caused by Chinese market problems and falling oil prices, which makes them reluctant to buck sterling's downward trend.

Technology Destroying Jobs + While the big driver of the decline in economic growth since the 1980’s has been a structural change from a manufacturing based economy (high multiplier effect) to a service based one (low multiplier effect), it has been exacerbated by the increase in household debt to offset the reduction in wage growth to maintain the standard of living. This is shown clearly in the chart below. [...] In fact, each job created in energy-related areas has had a “ripple effect” of creating 2.8 jobs elsewhere in the economy from piping to coatings, trucking and transportation, restaurants and retail. Simply put, lower oil and gasoline prices may have a bigger detraction on the economy than the “savings” provided to consumers.

true picture about quality of job creation is never talked about. makes harrowing nightmares for Career Politicians in western world!

[ always announcing new jobs created #, but not the wage ] Members said there had been a "decline in job quality" in recent years, with an increase in low-paid zero-hours contract jobs since the 2008 recession. Their report said public money could be better used to support workers. The committee heard evidence from scores of organisations and took submissions from more than 600 people. Convener Murdo Fraser said the evidence from firms and workers suggested there had been a decline in job quality and an increase in low-paid jobs on "exploitative" zero-hours contracts in recent years. He said: "Whilst employment statistics point to an increase to those in work, if we look beyond the figures, we have uncovered a worrying trend in poor quality employment. [...] "We heard during our inquiry that poor quality work has a significant impact on people's health and wellbeing.

Shelter estimates that 250,000 homes a year, half of them “affordable”, need to be built in England if the crisis is to be addressed. However, latest figures show there were only 135,050 new homes over the past year, a rise of 17%, but still little more than half what is needed. [...] Figures released last week suggest that the number of tenants in serious arrears is rising. There were 84,200 tenants more than two months behind with their rent in the third quarter of 2015, the latest figures available, compared with 74,000 in the second quarter. Government statistics show that the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless families with children is rising. Over the past five years, the number of households living in B&Bs has more than doubled, from 2,050 to 5,270. Meanwhile, the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation has risen by 26% over five years, from 51,350 in 2010 to 64,710 in 2015.

Progress on closing the gap between rich and poor pupils has not moved fast or far enough to tackle the gulf within a divided Britain, a report says. [...] 'Stronger economy' A government spokesman said it was committed to an "all-out assault on poverty". "Our investment in childcare is helping parents get into work and give their children the best start in life, while the pupil premium and school reforms are ensuring every child gets a good education." The spokesman said work was the best way out of poverty, adding that the number of workless households was at a record low.

&! Steve Hilton on refugee crisis, Syria and tax credits - youtu.be/2JiKaIomDJU - ISIS is jihadist ideology, is long-term war. can not close door to refugees at same time you are committed to drone warfare and direct sight bombing with fighter jets. & Is Tories welfare reform reform or smoke screen/spin/reframing of austerity?!

11:30 // science is hard. stupid. and a non-consumer product. duh. //&! HYPE CYLCE - on 5 magazine covers and not even public! because she is, as female science-based founder/ceo a rarity and it sells papers >> on.recode.net/1PcJ8zW - Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes’s Five Best Cover Story Appearances, Ranked

"economic security for the country (& working people)" out of the mouth of Mr "Judgement Call" (that is what the tax credit cuts are, according to him, in front of select committee in house of commons hearing on the matter. // As if 12bn have no multiplier. 12bn for the corporate sharing it amongst their shareholders who have already bns, there is no multiplier at all. it just moves the digit after the comma. For the poop it is about paying for heating and new shoes. stupid. could afford welfare bill if corporates were to pay their fair share of taxes and not avoid and evade and no corporate welfare like for the steel industry (picking winners). = Show of Career Politician with some ideoligy and dogma and no principles. HE IS A MERCENARY. NOT A VISIONARY. A Career Politician. Calculated. Opportunistic. No long-term view. // IFS did say, in case of austerity, private sector has to pick up the slack. And it did since 2010. And new figures in household debt/credit card debt shows that.

What about all the ballyhoo about manufacturing jobs coming back to America? Well, some have. But they pay lousy wages. The average wages of production and non-supervisory employees in manufacturing are lower today than they were in 1985, when adjusted for inflation. [...] Bottom line: Most Americans have got zilch out of this recovery. In fact, they’re worse off now than they were in 2000. Meanwhile, the top 0.1 percent is doing fabulously well. More and more people are concluding the game is rigged -- which it is. No one should be surprised at the surge in populist anger on the left and the right.

what constitutional crisis? democracy. separation of power. checks and balances. getting the voice of the minority heard who have no voice, nobody, no lobby in Westminster to speak and represent them. // 1:44:00 David Cameron and Osborne lied to win a small majority in the general election, withholding the details of further (12bn) welfare cuts in the next parliament if they were (re-)elected. The British public is fed up. Same with LibDems budging on Student Fees post-election and students went on the street in London and elsewhere. & 1:58-59:00 because of that fact, what the gov is asking us to do to waive this through, is unacceptable. & 2:00:00 no taxation without representation & 2:34:00 Poor have to make even more hard choices that Toff can't even imagine to make. & If you don't create middle-class jobs (job creation/industrial policy), you have to top up pay with tax credit for low income. Period. & 2:47:00 proposed amendments were just soft paced cut style. no principles!

Average stuff for average people is getting ever more difficult to sell. If that's all you've got, get something else.

Natalie McGarry, the SNP's shadow disabilities spokesperson, and Conservative MP Chris Philp, a member of the Treasury Select Committee, debate the government's tax credit cuts.

ufstand der Anständigen? Fehlanzeige. Trotz des Attentats eines Rechten auf eine Lokalpolitikerin hat nicht einmal jeder zweite Kölner gewählt. So viel Apathie war nie. [...] Die Oberbürgermeisterwahl 2015 ist eine einzige Blamage für Köln. Und sie ist ein alarmierendes Signal. Nicht in irgendeiner strukturschwachen Problemgemeinde mit hoher Arbeitslosigkeit haben sich die Menschen von der Politik abgewandt, sondern in einer florierenden Großstadt, die sich selbst für ungeheuer fortschrittlich hält.

Economic instability, populist politicians and a refugee wave is changing the face of politics in Europe Another round of elections, another push from increasingly vocal nationalists. Austria’s far-right Freedom Party gave the Social Democrats a run for their money in local elections over the past weekend, but fell short of capturing Vienna’s mayoralty. What started as an oddity in European politics has quickly become a disturbing pattern. These five facts explain the rise of the radical right in Europe, its causes and its implications for the region.

We are now in the seventh year of a cyclical recovery and bull market. Shares have tripled in that time frame. I would say this means we are much closer to the end of the business cycle than the beginning. Moreover, as Jeremy Grantham is quoted in the Business Insider piece, profits are mean-reverting and right now they are reverting from a phase that is “wildly optimistic” according to Warren Buffett. All of this is taking place against the backdrop of an economy in which wage growth is weak, household debt is still relatively high on a historic basis as a percentage of income and we have no policy room on the monetary side, with limited political appetite for policy on the fiscal side. To me, the pre-conditions for this profits recession speak to downside risk, ....

bit.ly/1QvB63Z &! bit.ly/1Ne9n73 - Kanzlerin Merkel vor dem Bundestag erklärt zum Zusammenhalt in der EU gemahnt. Man stehe vor "historischen" Prüfungen. //&! Stärken die Flüchtlinge den Standort Deutschland oder kommen hohe Kosten auf die Sozialkassen zu? Der Ökonom Raffelhüschen warnt vor massiven Steuererhöhungen und steigender Altersarmut. - bit.ly/1KaYeiO - Schon heute gebe es in Deutschland Hunderttausende unqualifizierte Arbeitslose. "Es kommen jetzt bis zu 1,5 Millionen Menschen dazu, von denen etwa 70 Prozent ebenfalls unqualifiziert sind", sagte Raffelhüschen der Nachrichtenagentur dpa. &! bit.ly/1NDSvcn - Geringqualifizierten droht in Deutschland heute häufiger ein Leben in Armut als noch vor zehn Jahren. Mehr als 30 Prozent derjenigen ohne Berufsausbildung und mit höchstens einem Realschulabschluss sind demnach armutsgefährdet. &! Integrationsdebatte: Lammert fordert von Flüchtlingen Anpassung an "Leitkultur" - bit.ly/1MEOmEq

Labour leader challenges PM with quotes from single mother of disabled child who will lose £1,800 under Tory cuts

'Prevalent' low pay The ONS figures show that the proportion of jobs paying below the living wage has grown. In 2014, young adults were most likely to be paid less than the living wage. Some 58% of jobs carried out by 18 to 24-year-olds outside of London and 48% of jobs in this age group in London were paid less than the living wage. In accommodation and food services in 2014, an estimated 65% of jobs paid less than the living wage in London and 70% in the rest of the UK. Northern Ireland had 29% of jobs paying below the living wage, the highest in the country. At the other end of the scale, 19% of jobs in the South East of England, London and Scotland paid below the living wage. [...] "These figures demonstrate that while the economy may be recovering as a whole, there is a real problem with ensuring everyone benefits, and low pay in still prevalent in Britain today."