I want to go down to no.10 and put some fecking windows through. I’m sick to my back teeth of it
Cost of living crisis: Lets pay more to water companies so they can invest more in their shareholders.
- Thread starter Ekkie Thump
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I'm barely getting half of the £1500 in my Civil Service cost of living payment after tax & student loan.
More corporate altruism. Last Year Centrica, as a producer, posted a huge profit while its retail arm in the UK (British Gas) did not, due to the price cap. This year Centrica will post a huge profit because of its retail arm and the relaxation of said cap.
Part of the justification for this is that British Gas's profits were unfairly held back by said cap. Here's an excerpt from the FT article on it:
This is how the game is played. One way or the other it's gotta be us that pay.
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Part of the justification for this is that British Gas's profits were unfairly held back by said cap. Here's an excerpt from the FT article on it:
Of course the supplier in this case is also the producer. Centrica was allowed to recover losses incurred because the price cap was too low to fully account for the costs it paid itself.
This is how the game is played. One way or the other it's gotta be us that pay.
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Don't even think I have any anger left in me any more. It's just exhausting. How many businesses have gone under from this greed? How many people have been driven to the edge because they can't afford to live? We're well past the tipping point now and still nothing is done about it.
We're all in this together.
Honestly, we should be out in our millions on the streets revolting and forcing change. How did we go from a million+ protesting Iraq to becoming so apathetic?
The French are out in their droves every other week - we really need to take a leaf out of their book.
The French are out in their droves every other week - we really need to take a leaf out of their book.
Nope. At the moment we live in an incredibly selfish society.
This is where inflation is coming from, the extortionate increase in the cost of our bills. This profiteering needs to be tempered!.
Capitalism has failed, burn it to the fecking ground
This is French too, though. It's an EU wide inflationary price gouge. Covers the UK and the US, too. Economists called it at the start of the war just after the pandemic ended. That companies were price gouging. It was called a socialist idea, but now we have the facts in and it's a fecking disgrace. Inflation = corporate profit and stock buyback (typically) from said profit to avoid taxation (when tax-cuts are applied).
This is the biggest story of the year in all honesty. That we're only two pages in and few papers are covering it tells you about media ownership in the Western World.
Lower your heads and keep working fecking stupids. And have a baby to substitite you when you are gone without a pension. I just had one. Cant wait to see him growing a moron like me
As a nation, we get angrier about Just Stop Oil protesters sitting in the road than we do about being shafted by this corrupt lot in charge. We get angry at whatever the media tell us we should be angry about. We're a nation of morons and deserve the government we voted for.
coming soon from british gas - another revenue stream...
The French people view themselves as sovereign, which is why they kick off when their leaders do something they don't agree with. The English view parliament as sovereign and think that posh accents are a sign of intelligence. That's why they don't kick off and, instead, repeat what they're told by their leaders.
That being said, he got all the big calls right!
That being said, he got all the big calls right!
When are you starting to protest on the streets then? It’s probably easier to ask why it’s not happening, than to ask yourself why you’re not doing it. That might give some insight as to why there’s apathy.
I do protest - I protested Iraq, and I've probably done a pro-Palestine protest every year since the age of 21. I've done a couple of Uighur protests last couple of years, and most recently Imran Khan. So I have good protesting credentials.
I just don't have very good 'organising protest' credentials, but if someone wants to organise a cost of living, or windfall tax protest, I'll definitely be there.
Fair enough
I just see a lot of folk online posting about something needs to happen but sitting from the luxury of their arm chair. Ironically similar to a lot of the Glazer rhetoric.No such thing as a posh French accent?
Nope, they chopped all their heads off 200 years or so ago
Because for the vast majority of people life is as good as its ever been. On average we live longer, live safer, can do more and have more disposable income than ever before.
There are problems with income inequality and cost of living but until any of the above starts to change people will just bed down and get on with their lives in isolation from all the shit going on in the world. The I'm alright Jack attitude spread across the whole country.
I’m so glad these corporations can make it through the tough times.
That was true 20 years ago, but is it still now?
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-r...rs-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51543521
And that was before shit hit the fan the past 5 years.
People also have a vote. But its a complicated issue, Britain is so right wing compared to my own country and i understand people often vote against their own interests. Energy companies are raking up record profits in my own country as well that is mistakenly considered by the US media as a socialist country. Still its remarkable that the UK has only had a labour government for about 4 times in history? When it comes to marching on the streets im all in favour.
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Serious question: why don't competing brands keep their prices a little bit lower, thus maintaining old profit margins but increasing market share, and then ultimately generating greater gross profits?
In other words, why does the "invisible hand of the market" work the rest of the time but not now?
In other words, why does the "invisible hand of the market" work the rest of the time but not now?
It’s called a cartel. Governments are supposed to enforce laws to stop this from happening. When you have a PM that has a multitude of vested interests in these corporations along with the rest of his cabinet and donors, there is literally zero chance of anything being done about it. They’re not in government to ensure the country is run well, they’re in government to ensure both themselves and their associates can get really fecking rich at the expense of everyone else.
The invisible hand of the market works very well when it comes to plastic beach balls. If your plastic beach balls deflate all the time, people will post about it online and tell people to buy plastic beach balls from other companies. Or if you charge twice as much for the same shitty plastic beach ball as the next company, you are likely to lose out because people don't want to pay a lot of money for plastic beach balls. And of course you can't really conspire with your competitors to keep prices high because people don't need plastic beach balls: simply saying 'feck those plastic beach balls, I'd rather just wank in the shade' is a perfectly realistic option.
When it comes to energy though...
- People can't just walk away because they need light and heating and nice things like that.
- The barrier to entry on the energy market is incredibly high - not just any rando in their basement can start up an energy company. They would have more success trying to get a plastic beach ball trading company off the ground.
- As such, in most places you can't just decide to subscribe to another supplier.
That means the established big players essentially own the market. They have zero incentive to lower prices or keep them sane as long as they have political backing. In fact, it's even worse: it's enough if they don't encounter political pushback.
It is still true today, people just have a different idea of what is essential, despite what people think, a mobile phone, a Playstation or an Xbox and a flatscreen TV are not actually essential, desirable yes but you can live perfectly well without them
Companies don't like to compete. Sometimes there's no alternative and they have to compete. But when circumstances align, companies will have an implicit understanding that they can get away with price gouging.
Thanks.
If that's the case, why haven't they kept prices artificially high for years beforehand?
The Tories will make a comment about energy companies being greedy, do feck all about it, and continue to enable these companies to do so in future. And while that’s happening, it’s back to woke snowflakes and boats in the channel ruining the fabric of this great country.
At what point does the public say enough is enough? Will that ever happen?
At what point does the public say enough is enough? Will that ever happen?
In some areas there isn't much competition anyway because many brands that appear to be competitors are actually owned by the same company
They have. It's just always a question of what they can get away with without people burning down the streets.
When you hear nothing but PANDEMIC! WAR! RECESSION COMING! INFLATION ALL TIME HIGH! - people expect price increases. They grumble but tend to accept that "oh well, this is how things work".
The public saying enough is enough wont achieve anything, like really its been said with no impact whatsoever. Them french protests that everyone wishes could be replicated didn't achieve anything. That anti iraq war protest didn't achieve anything.
Short of dragging people into the streets and publicly executing them this wont change.
I don't know about others but I could not do my job without a mobile phone. For me it's as essential as a suitable wardrobe for meetings or transportation to get there. How are people better off now than 2 decades ago if the median wages have been flat for so long? Basic necessities like electricity, housing, transportation, equipment for school for the young ones etc. meanwhile is all a lot more expensive today then when I started paying for them myself (2007). People my age now (at work) back then where all on the property ladder and only a select few of the people I'm around now are (and I would say a lot of my current peers are even more accomplished then the mid thirties I was around back then were). While my personal experience is obviously anecdotal it aligns with the data eerily well.
It isn't though. Wages have stayed stagnant with costs shooting up. This affects people's mental health, financial worries are destructive.
20 years ago the wages-to-cost of living ratio was a lot better which has a direct impact on people's day to day happiness.
Before mobile phones people used landlines, in most case I'm sure they could do the same, maybe I should have phrased it as a smartphone rather than just a mobile phone.
Certainly some of the things you mention are more expensive, but what about the things that are not, food in real terms is cheaper now than it was 20-30 years ago, so is clothing, consumer items, not necessarily essential but what people deem necessary, TV's, white goods, computers - all these things are much cheaper in real terms
The point of course being that people shouldn’t have to. Fairly basic ‘luxuries’ should not be the preserve of the rich. There isn’t a lack of money. There’s a lack of money being shared and there is no justifiable reason for it.
This was definitely true 5 years ago. Now though.....not sure.
Disposable income is different, and that has risen consistently. People can still go on their 2 week summer holiday, have a new car every 3 years, and all the rest of it. Until that changes nobody is going to really upset things.
It might change in time though because as you rightly say real wages have been stagnant at best and housing costs are out of control.
It's okay. I'm sure they'll pass that onto their workers through pay rises above inflation.
Right?
Right??
Right?
Right??