fairfuel uk

Geesh a tongue in cheek comment raised some bull to the surface huh…

Anyone who can be so blind not to see that the job rates in the already lowest paid parts of the country have not suffered even further clearly lives in their own little fluffy world.

Your average working man with a wife and child and mortgage cannot afford to work in Spalding for 6.70 per hour, whilst the euro boys live 6 to 8 people to a shared rented 4 bed house doing shift work and sending the money home can, period, no argument against that stands up to real world scrutiny, now tell me one good thing the total influx of foreign drivers did for the job and ability to find reasonable and realistically paid work ■■ Nadda

Phantom Mark:
Your average working man with a wife and child and mortgage cannot afford to work in Spalding for 6.70 per hour, whilst the euro boys live 6 to 8 people to a shared rented 4 bed house doing shift work and sending the money home can, period, no argument against that stands up to real world scrutiny, now tell me one good thing the total influx of foreign drivers did for the job and ability to find reasonable and realistically paid work ■■ Nadda

See, this is the myth I am talking about. These times are long gone, the skilled workers can now find job back in Poland easier and for better money. Most of Polish people who leave here have their families with them. are well settled, they pay their taxes here, spend their money here etc etc etc. So they living costs are exactly the same as living costs of British people, except that to see their parents they don’t drive car to the next town, but have to travel across half of Europe.

What you say was true (at least to some point) several years ago. Now I rarely see Polish plated car on the road, which was a very common sight 6 years ago when I came to Britiain. Off course there are propably some teams of workers who live like you described, but sharing a flat is not only Eastern European thing. For most od the time I am in UK I was leaving on my own or with my partner, but for the two times when I shared a flat it was with a Scottish guys and with English girls.

Same with students I study with: most of Poles and Czechs I know leave in better conditions than their British collegues, who often share mouldy flats in some dodgy areas.

I have nothing about some jokes (my favourite are “what the difference between a Pole and E.T? E.T. can speak English and wants go home” or “there was a terrible accident in a flat in Eastern London, the top bunk collapsed onto the bottom bunk, 40 Eastern Europeans have to be hospitalised” but when we speak a bit more serious, please stick to the facts.

orys:

Phantom Mark:
Your average working man with a wife and child and mortgage cannot afford to work in Spalding for 6.70 per hour, whilst the euro boys live 6 to 8 people to a shared rented 4 bed house doing shift work and sending the money home can, period, no argument against that stands up to real world scrutiny, now tell me one good thing the total influx of foreign drivers did for the job and ability to find reasonable and realistically paid work ■■ Nadda

See, this is the myth I am talking about. These times are long gone, the skilled workers can now find job back in Poland easier and for better money. Most of Polish people who leave here have their families with them. are well settled, they pay their taxes here, spend their money here etc etc etc. So they living costs are exactly the same as living costs of British people, except that to see their parents they don’t drive car to the next town, but have to travel across half of Europe.

What you say was true (at least to some point) several years ago. Now I rarely see Polish plated car on the road, which was a very common sight 6 years ago when I came to Britiain. Off course there are propably some teams of workers who live like you described, but sharing a flat is not only Eastern European thing. For most od the time I am in UK I was leaving on my own or with my partner, but for the two times when I shared a flat it was with a Scottish guys and with English girls.

Same with students I study with: most of Poles and Czechs I know leave in better conditions than their British collegues, who often share mouldy flats in some dodgy areas.

I have nothing about some jokes (my favourite are “what the difference between a Pole and E.T? E.T. can speak English and wants go home” or “there was a terrible accident in a flat in Eastern London, the top bunk collapsed onto the bottom bunk, 40 Eastern Europeans have to be hospitalised” but when we speak a bit more serious, please stick to the facts.

Whatever the arguments it would have been interesting to have seen where British wage levels would have been if we hadn’t have had the levels of immigrant labour that the economy has been subject to over the years including examples like the so called ‘commonwealth countries’ like Jamaica not just eastern europe.It’s no coincidence that being a member of the old ‘commonwealth’ seemed to always be enough to allow immigrant workers to work here on an open borders basis but it wasn’t good enough to allow British workers to do the same in other commonwealth countries like Australia and Canada.

The issue of the new eu states in eastern europe being allowed to join the eu is just a continuation of that same old cheap labour policy.So you’re saying that wage levels are now better in Poland than they are here.In which case why would east europeans want to continue coming here and how are the east european operators still able to undercut other western european ones for work :question: considering that drivers’ wages are one of the main variables in the costs of operating a truck.

Carryfast:
The issue of the new eu states in eastern europe being allowed to join the eu is just a continuation of that same old cheap labour policy.So you’re saying that wage levels are now better in Poland than they are here.In which case why would east europeans want to continue coming here and how are the east european operators still able to undercut other western european ones for work :question: considering that drivers’ wages are one of the main variables in the costs of operating a truck.

Hm, you obviously have troubles with reading in English, maybe I should write in Polish for you? :slight_smile:

On a serious note: I never told that wage levels are now better in Poland, but that in some areas of economy you can make better money there: as we all know Polish transport is doing much better than British transport, and also we have construction boom - mostly due to Euro. Also, we are the only country in EU that so far keeps head above the water in current economical situation. So there are some trades when you can earn more in Poland than here: construction for example, if you are skilled tradesmen you can count on more (not if you are just a labourer off course). IT specialists earn more in Poland than in UK (my friends are working in that industry). Translators are also much more valued in Poland than in UK - I have few friends who make a decent living being freelance translators - almost unheard of in Scotland. There is propably more examples, I am just not willing to research it so just gave you a few from the top of my head.

So there are CERTAIN fields that you can earn more in Poland than here. It just happens that these fields are important for British economy, as the biggest issues here were invasions of polish plumbers or truck drivers. And these people are now going back. Off course Polish teacher still earns much less than British teacher, but invasion of Polish teachers was never a problem here, I hope you agree at least on that.

So now we have three kinds of Polish people staying here:

  • folks doing simply, minimum wage jobs. This is not a problem for British industry, as nobody else wants these jobs - for local people is better to sit on benefits than to clean the toilets in Tesco’s.
  • skilled workers, but only the ones who are well settled here. They often have own homes, regular family life here, cars, they are residents of UK in full meaning of that word and therefore they are not the case of “20 Poles to a flat”. Some of them I know would come back to Poland as they can earn better money there, but they are too deeply rooted already to move back. I doubt you can say that “they milk the system” or that “they put wages down due to lower living costs”.
  • proffessionals. There is still a huge demand for Eastern European proffesionals - engineers, doctors, economists, sciencists…

So that how it looks for Poland and Czech Republic - these two countries I know the best. Off course situation with, say Romanians and Bulgarians is different (but they are not free to work here, they have to fulfill some conditions), also Hungarians struggle in their own country.

I am writing this as I want you to learn, that Central and Eastern Europe is not homogenic, therefore if you want to consider that problem, you have to look in different countries under different angle.

orys:

Carryfast:
The issue of the new eu states in eastern europe being allowed to join the eu is just a continuation of that same old cheap labour policy.So you’re saying that wage levels are now better in Poland than they are here.In which case why would east europeans want to continue coming here and how are the east european operators still able to undercut other western european ones for work :question: considering that drivers’ wages are one of the main variables in the costs of operating a truck.

So now we have three kinds of Polish people staying here:

  • folks doing simply, minimum wage jobs. This is not a problem for British industry, as nobody else wants these jobs - for local people is better to sit on benefits than to clean the toilets in Tesco’s.

Firstly it’s a bit difficult for anyone ‘to sit on benefits’ considering the conditions for getting jobseekers allowance and the amount it pays and the fact is that general wage levels and the so called minimum wage would be a lot higher if the supply of labour was drastically reduced by not allowing immigrant workers to fill vacancies.It’s a simple issue of the British labour market being rigged,by manipulation of the supply side of the equation,by allowing unrestricted immigration of foreign labour,from countries with less developed economies.For those immigrants to then say that they are taking those artificially underpaid jobs because the indigenous workforce would prefer to ‘sit on benefits’ is just adding insult to injury.

That situation is a problem for the British economy in that we’re adding to the demand and therefore costs for housing and social services by increasing the population levels while at the same time reducing the capacity to pay for them because of the artificial downward pressure on wage levels just to provide a hidden subsidy for the employers in wage costs.The costs of that subsidy outweigh any benefits.

Carryfast:
Firstly it’s a bit difficult for anyone ‘to sit on benefits’ considering the conditions for getting jobseekers allowance and the amount it pays and the fact is that general wage levels and the so called minimum wage would be a lot higher if the supply of labour was drastically reduced by not allowing immigrant workers to fill vacancies.It’s a simple issue of the British labour market being rigged,by manipulation of the supply side of the equation,by allowing unrestricted immigration of foreign labour,from countries with less developed economies.For those immigrants to then say that they are taking those artificially underpaid jobs because the indigenous workforce would prefer to ‘sit on benefits’ is just adding insult to injury.

That situation is a problem for the British economy in that we’re adding to the demand and therefore costs for housing and social services by increasing the population levels while at the same time reducing the capacity to pay for them because of the artificial downward pressure on wage levels just to provide a hidden subsidy for the employers in wage costs.The costs of that subsidy outweigh any benefits.

Ach, don’t be silly with blaming imigrants for your “I am not rising my bum for less than X” culture. I used to live next door from three generation Scottish family in which last person working was grandparent and he lost his job in 1978! No matter how high the minimum wage would be, there will be always some group of people who would prefer to leave in lower standards, but without doing anything and at the expense of others. This is true for every nation that has benefit system, period.

Actually the truth is quite opposite to what you are saying: if these people weren’t too lazy to work, they would be able to fill gaps in the workmarket without needing a help from foreign labour. The hope that if you ban cheap labour, you will all earn 40 per hour and be living happy life is utopia. If you wont let the factories manufacture cheaply here, they will do it elsewhere, and instead of benefiting from the buisnesses making money here, you will just import stuff from other countries. If you put custom bareers, the other countries will respond with the same and if there will be still someone on the world willing to buy your overpriced stuff, he will be hit with high custom fees.

I asked that question to you several times, and you always evaded the answer: I’ll try again:

I am a foreigner, my English is far from perfect, I obtained my Driving License in the country where allegedly they do it by riding the donkeys and therefore my driving is far from the superior British Standards. I got only 5 years knowledge of UK road network, I am still not familiar with some procedures or customs here…

Yet: I am not willing to work for less, as I live here in UK and I have the same living costs as anyone of you + it’s a bit more expensive to me to go and see my family of friend (so I can say it’s even higher for me).

Question: how is that that despite hard situation on the market I had never any problems to find a job?

orys:

Carryfast:
Firstly it’s a bit difficult for anyone ‘to sit on benefits’ considering the conditions for getting jobseekers allowance and the amount it pays and the fact is that general wage levels and the so called minimum wage would be a lot higher if the supply of labour was drastically reduced by not allowing immigrant workers to fill vacancies.It’s a simple issue of the British labour market being rigged,by manipulation of the supply side of the equation,by allowing unrestricted immigration of foreign labour,from countries with less developed economies.For those immigrants to then say that they are taking those artificially underpaid jobs because the indigenous workforce would prefer to ‘sit on benefits’ is just adding insult to injury.

That situation is a problem for the British economy in that we’re adding to the demand and therefore costs for housing and social services by increasing the population levels while at the same time reducing the capacity to pay for them because of the artificial downward pressure on wage levels just to provide a hidden subsidy for the employers in wage costs.The costs of that subsidy outweigh any benefits.

Ach, don’t be silly with blaming imigrants for your “I am not rising my bum for less than X” culture. I used to live next door from three generation Scottish family in which last person working was grandparent and he lost his job in 1978! No matter how high the minimum wage would be, there will be always some group of people who would prefer to leave in lower standards, but without doing anything and at the expense of others. This is true for every nation that has benefit system, period.

Actually the truth is quite opposite to what you are saying: if these people weren’t too lazy to work, they would be able to fill gaps in the workmarket without needing a help from foreign labour. The hope that if you ban cheap labour, you will all earn 40 per hour and be living happy life is utopia. If you wont let the factories manufacture cheaply here, they will do it elsewhere, and instead of benefiting from the buisnesses making money here, you will just import stuff from other countries. If you put custom bareers, the other countries will respond with the same and if there will be still someone on the world willing to buy your overpriced stuff, he will be hit with high custom fees.

I asked that question to you several times, and you always evaded the answer: I’ll try again:

I am a foreigner, my English is far from perfect, I obtained my Driving License in the country where allegedly they do it by riding the donkeys and therefore my driving is far from the superior British Standards. I got only 5 years knowledge of UK road network, I am still not familiar with some procedures or customs here…

Yet: I am not willing to work for less, as I live here in UK and I have the same living costs as anyone of you + it’s a bit more expensive to me to go and see my family of friend (so I can say it’s even higher for me).

Question: how is that that despite hard situation on the market I had never any problems to find a job?

The proof of my case and the fact that what you are saying is total bs is the state of the uk economy as it stands.It also doesn’t take a genius to understand that British employers aren’t going to wreck the subsidy,provided by the rigging of the labour market using immigrant labour,by then not employing that labour wherever possible when it’s here.Which explains why immigrant labour doesn’t seem to have the same issues as indigenous labour does in finding work when they’ve been made redundant.

The fact is the idea of having an open labour market would be self defeating if the employers then didn’t make as much use of that labour as possible wherever possible.The obvious results of that would be immigrant labour being employed while indigenous labour is unemployed which as you’ve said is exectly what we’ve got.

Not surprisingly the employers certainly wouldn’t want a situation whereby we call a halt to immigrant labour until we’ve got at least negative supply levels over demand in the domestic labour market even if by doing so wage levels increase which the laws of supply and demand say they would have to.In which case the increase in wage levels and reduction in demand for social services and housing provision would actually create growth in the economy unlike what we’ve got now.

Well said…

Carryfast:
The proof of my case and the fact that what you are saying is total bs is the state of the uk economy as it stands.It also doesn’t take a genius to understand that British employers aren’t going to wreck the subsidy,provided by the rigging of the labour market using immigrant labour,by then not employing that labour wherever possible when it’s here.Which explains why immigrant labour doesn’t seem to have the same issues as indigenous labour does in finding work when they’ve been made redundant.

Ok, then, as you avoided answering straightly my question again: so why do I have no issues with finding work? I am speaking poor language, I have foreign license, I am not cheaper, but if I understanded you correctnly they still employ me only because I am Polish?

Well, if yes then British employers are obviously idiots, and that explain the current UK economic situation, you right.

My answer to that question is that they employ me, because I am not having expectations from the moon, do my job without moaning and that my nationality has nothing to do with that. I bet that if I was sitting on my couch with bottle of Tesco Cider in one hand and iPad in second, writing on internet forums that I don’t rise my bum for this or that, I would have as much troubles to find a job as anyone else who does just that, regardless of nationality.

The fact is the idea of having an open labour market would be self defeating if the employers then didn’t make as much use of that labour as possible wherever possible.The obvious results of that would be immigrant labour being employed while indigenous labour is unemployed which as you’ve said is exectly what we’ve got.

But who employs them if they are not cheaper? I won’t believe if you say to me that before EU 10 accession cleaners were making 20 per hour. Minimum wage is minimum wage, and you had it for a reason. So if they employ Eastern Europeans as cleaners, despite lack of language knowledge etc, for sure they have to be some benefits for employers that counterbalance it? And since it’s not salary, what that can be?

In other words: if I had a business and was looking for minimum wage workers, I would seek GOOD ones, not POLISH ones. So if all this benefit potatoes are such a good workers, why they don’t work?

Not surprisingly the employers certainly wouldn’t want a situation whereby we call a halt to immigrant labour until we’ve got at least negative supply levels over demand in the domestic labour market even if by doing so wage levels increase which the laws of supply and demand say they would have to.In which case the increase in wage levels and reduction in demand for social services and housing provision would actually create growth in the economy unlike what we’ve got now.

Yeah, now you made me smile :wink: I just remind you one fact: that per every 100 of Polish people, 7 claims some benefits, compared to 30 Scottish people per hundred (but this is data from some time ago). So how exactly removing foreigners will recude demand for social services? :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

Rest of it is just more ridiculous wishful thinking, but at least you made me smile. I think that’s it, I have enough for this weekend. Have fun :wink:

orys:

Carryfast:
The proof of my case and the fact that what you are saying is total bs is the state of the uk economy as it stands.It also doesn’t take a genius to understand that British employers aren’t going to wreck the subsidy,provided by the rigging of the labour market using immigrant labour,by then not employing that labour wherever possible when it’s here.Which explains why immigrant labour doesn’t seem to have the same issues as indigenous labour does in finding work when they’ve been made redundant.

Ok, then, as you avoided answering straightly my question again: so why do I have no issues with finding work? I am speaking poor language, I have foreign license, I am not cheaper, but if I understanded you correctnly they still employ me only because I am Polish?

Well, if yes then British employers are obviously idiots, and that explain the current UK economic situation, you right

I did answer your question and that’s exactly my case although it’s got nothing to do with you being ‘Polish’ it’s all about cheap labour not ‘Polish’ labour.The British employers have always been idiots because they’ve never been able to understand that a low supply high demand labour market,and therefore resulting high wage economy,is better than the existing,short term,blinkered self interest idea in the opposite situation which we’ve got now.Which has been taken to it’s logical conclusion in the global free market economy and open door immigration policy,which provides domestic industry with a cheap labour base.It seems that,like them,you seem to be avoiding the issue of the fact that it’s all about supply and demand in the labour market,in which case wages in general are lower than they would/should otherwise be if the immigrant labour resource was removed from the supply side of the equation.

When what’s needed is the opposite situation of a closed domestic labour market together and trade restrictions,to stop the export of jobs to cheap labour countries,which I’m saying would be better and which is the only way in which the economy will ever get back on it’s feet and grow.Because if no one is earning enough then no one can spend enough and if they are spending it’s no good spending money earn’t here on foreign made goods ,that we can make for ourselves,which just creates the type of massive trade deficit and debt levels throughout the economy which we’ve got now. . :bulb:

Carryfast:
I did answer your question and that’s is exactly my case although it’s got nothing to do with you being ‘Polish’ it’s all about cheap labour not ‘Polish’ labour.

So obviously you didn’t, because the question was “why they employ me if I am NOT cheaper”.

Which wouldn’t have been the case in the type of closed domestic labour market together and trade restrictions,to stop the export of jobs to cheap labour countries,which I’m saying would be better and which is the only way in which the economy will ever get back on it’s feet and grow.Because if no one is earning enough then no one can spend enough and if they are spending it’s no good spending money earn’t here on foreign made goods ,that we can make for ourselves,which just creates the type of massive trade deficit and debt which we’ve got now. . :bulb:

In that case everyone would earn twice or triple as much as they earn today, but (hello?) everyone would have to spend much, because everything would be much more expensive because of higher labour costs. So the only effect would be inflation. I still fail to understand how can you miss so obvious fact.

orys:

Carryfast:
I did answer your question and that’s is exactly my case although it’s got nothing to do with you being ‘Polish’ it’s all about cheap labour not ‘Polish’ labour.

So obviously you didn’t, because the question was “why they employ me if I am NOT cheaper”.

Which wouldn’t have been the case in the type of closed domestic labour market together and trade restrictions,to stop the export of jobs to cheap labour countries,which I’m saying would be better and which is the only way in which the economy will ever get back on it’s feet and grow.Because if no one is earning enough then no one can spend enough and if they are spending it’s no good spending money earn’t here on foreign made goods ,that we can make for ourselves,which just creates the type of massive trade deficit and debt which we’ve got now. . :bulb:

In that case everyone would earn twice or triple as much as they earn today, but (hello?) everyone would have to spend much, because everything would be much more expensive because of higher labour costs. So the only effect would be inflation. I still fail to understand how can you miss so obvious fact.

I think that was exactly the same argument that employers and the government used to make the case for a low wage economy since the mid 1970’s.Suggest you check out the figures as to where the economy stands now because they won the argument.There’s nothing wrong with inflation if you’ve got the economic growth and interest rates to match and inflation can be controlled by price controls.

Carryfast:
I think that was exactly the same argument that employers and the government used to make the case for a low wage economy since the mid 1970’s.Suggest you check out the figures as to where the economy stands now because they won the argument.There’s nothing wrong with inflation if you’ve got the economic growth and interest rates to match and inflation can be controlled by price controls.

Difference between you and me is that I am old enough to experience things you proposing. I lived in the country when goverment won the argument with employeers about if it was goverment or market to set wages. It was called “centrally planned economy”. I also (as a result of this) was living in the country with the inflation of 1395%. So I know what’s going on when the wages (and/or) are not responding to the market needs.

Off course kapitalism is not perfect system, and therefore it needs some amendments (such us benefit system for the poor, minimum wages, limitations for the companies, protections of people) but if you intervene too much, you will derail your economy.

Look! I thought this one had been put to bed. Polish women are well fit, easy on the eye in warehouses, factorys etc, places where normaly before 2001 well fit birds were not to be found. Therefore Polish immigration is/has been a good thing. :laughing:

orys:

Carryfast:
I think that was exactly the same argument that employers and the government used to make the case for a low wage economy since the mid 1970’s.Suggest you check out the figures as to where the economy stands now because they won the argument.There’s nothing wrong with inflation if you’ve got the economic growth and interest rates to match and inflation can be controlled by price controls.

Difference between you and me is that I am old enough to experience things you proposing. I lived in the country when goverment won the argument with employeers about if it was goverment or market to set wages. It was called “centrally planned economy”. I also (as a result of this) was living in the country with the inflation of 1395%. So I know what’s going on when the wages (and/or) are not responding to the market needs.

Off course kapitalism is not perfect system, and therefore it needs some amendments (such us benefit system for the poor, minimum wages, limitations for the companies, protections of people) but if you intervene too much, you will derail your economy.

So in your world rigging the domestic labour market by oversupplying it using immigrant labour (importing labour) and ‘outsourcing domestic production’ (exporting jobs) and calling for ‘wage restraint’ etc etc just as the so called capitalist British system has done over the years since the days of the Windrush lot isn’t a form of commy style government intervention in the domestic labour market :question: .

However in the case of your example of a 1,395% inflation rate I think that had more to do with the fact as I said of flat line growth because the only aspirations of eastern bloc workers was ownership of a zb Trabant or a Polonez or a Zastava and the chance to live in a high rise tower block of flats.Ironically that is exactly the type of economy that our so called capitalist system would have provided for the British working classes if it hadn’t have been for our unions deciding that wasn’t good enough.Unlike their gutless east european counterparts.

But ironically when unions like Solidarity finally decided that they’d had enough of zb wages relative to prices it was leaders like Thatcher and her ideas of the global free market economy that they chose to support.The results are already starting in places like Greece. :open_mouth:

The fact is the issue isn’t one of inflation it’s all about how much a week’s wages will buy and making sure that those wages are sufficient to provide 1960’s US levels of economic growth and living standards not 1960’s Polish ones and you won’t do that by rigging the labour market in favour of high supply and low wages and importing cheap products from low wage countries.

Carryfast:
So in your world rigging the domestic labour market by oversupplying it using immigrant labour (importing labour) and ‘outsourcing domestic production’ (exporting jobs) and calling for ‘wage restraint’ etc etc just as the so called capitalist British system has done over the years since the days of the Windrush lot isn’t a form of commy style government intervention in the domestic labour market :question: .

Yes, except that it’s not MINE world. It’s REAL world. You can’t just cut away your country from the Global economy. You can’t ban your citizens from their right to buy better and cheaper product / services. You can’t handsteer the economy - not only because that’s wrong, but also because it simply won’t work.

However in the case of your example of a 1,395% inflation rate I think that had more to do with the fact as I said of flat line growth because the only aspirations of eastern bloc workers was ownership of a zb Trabant or a Polonez or a Zastava and the chance to live in a high rise tower block of flats.

My god. I am sorry, but sometimes what you write is such a perfect example of someone talking about something he has not the slightest understanding about that your posts should be stored in safe in Sevres near Paris as a standard sample. The reason why the Eastern Economy was unable to offer the market what people really wanted is because instead of letting the businesses answer to people needs, they were focused on that everyone has “job and decent wage”. I can assure that every worker in Eastern Bloc dreamed about Western Car, even if it was one of your crappy Austins. But they could not buy them, because they were fenced from their competitions to protect the workplaces and wages of the people.

Good that you mentioned Polonez, as this is brilliant example of what I am talking about. In early 1990s FSO (Polonez manufacturer) had a huge overemployment. The Polish goverment put a strong duties on imported cars to protect the workplaces and salaries of Polish workers. In the same time, Czech republic opened their market for influx of second hand cars from the west and sold Å koda to Volkswagen. 20 years later, see where are Skoda workers today and where are FSO workers? Did goverment protection of their workplaces and salaries worked well for them? No. Why? Because with that labour costs they were unable to produce the car that anyone would buy. Also, no foreign investor wanted to buy the factory with such guarantees for its employees (except Daewoo who promised golden showers and then went bankrupt). And do you think that anyone bothered, and people were paid more because of your supply and demand rights? Off course not, because just as Britain today (or any day), Poland of 1990 is not the only country in the world. Other companies invested in new factories across the region (Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, other parts of Poland) and left FSO to die.

And this will be exactly what will happen to Britain if you implement your solutions: nobody will buy your overpriced products, or use your overpriced services, and just as FSO could not survive just on its workers buying overpriced Polonez cars, Britain would not survive just on you people buying your overpriced stuff. At least as long as they will have access to better and cheaper stuff made abroad. But off course you can allways follow the path of North Korea and fence yourself around. You will not only sort the problem with emigration, but you will also solve your housing and healthcare problems, as every Briton will do everything to leave this country and go to some normal place, maybe even to Poland?

Off Topic: I know that you think Trabant Car is crap, because is Eastern European, but as for car made in 1950’s it was very modern. Yes, it was very primitive construction, but that was a general trend in the world of motoring of this time (compare it to Citroen 2CV, Renault 4, VW Kafer or Morris Minor). We had one in our family for 17 years and was very reliable, 4 persons can travel it in decent condition and it has big boot. And as for the safety - in 1991 when Germany were reunited, the ADAC made crash tests of Trabant cars to put them in line with their database. Believe or not, but Trabant scored better than Opel Vectra, known to you as Vauxhall Cavalier.

My father had Trabant car, it was the car I learned to drive on. My friend has Morris Minor that he inherited from his grandfather (yeah, some people had Western cars in Poland). And you know what? If I lived in 1960 and was given a choice which one of them to drive, I would NOT choose Morris.

But ironically when unions like Solidarity finally decided that they’d had enough of zb wages relative to prices it was leaders like Thatcher and her ideas of the global free market economy that they chose to support.The results are already starting in places like Greece. :open_mouth:

Yeah, you mentioned that once already, but I decided to do not comment on it, as even despite that I am usually ready to answer to most idiotic things you write here on Trucknet, even I have my bottom line.

The fact is the issue isn’t one of inflation it’s all about how much a week’s wages will buy and making sure that those wages are sufficient to provide 1960’s US levels of economic growth and living standards not 1960’s Polish ones and you won’t do that by rigging the labour market in favour of high supply and low wages and importing cheap products from low wage countries.

Yeah. Good luck in saving money for buying your 1960s US car when inflation is not an issue for you :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

orys:

Carryfast:
So in your world rigging the domestic labour market by oversupplying it using immigrant labour (importing labour) and ‘outsourcing domestic production’ (exporting jobs) and calling for ‘wage restraint’ etc etc just as the so called capitalist British system has done over the years since the days of the Windrush lot isn’t a form of commy style government intervention in the domestic labour market :question: .

Yes, except that it’s not MINE world. It’s REAL world. You can’t just cut away your country from the Global economy. You can’t ban your citizens from their right to buy better and cheaper product / services. You can’t handsteer the economy - not only because that’s wrong, but also because it simply won’t work.

However in the case of your example of a 1,395% inflation rate I think that had more to do with the fact as I said of flat line growth because the only aspirations of eastern bloc workers was ownership of a zb Trabant or a Polonez or a Zastava and the chance to live in a high rise tower block of flats.

My god. I am sorry, but sometimes what you write is such a perfect example of someone talking about something he has not the slightest understanding about that your posts should be stored in safe in Sevres near Paris as a standard sample. The reason why the Eastern Economy was unable to offer the market what people really wanted is because instead of letting the businesses answer to people needs, they were focused on that everyone has “job and decent wage”. I can assure that every worker in Eastern Bloc dreamed about Western Car, even if it was one of your crappy Austins. But they could not buy them, because they were fenced from their competitions to protect the workplaces and wages of the people.

Good that you mentioned Polonez, as this is brilliant example of what I am talking about. In early 1990s FSO (Polonez manufacturer) had a huge overemployment. The Polish goverment put a strong duties on imported cars to protect the workplaces and salaries of Polish workers. In the same time, Czech republic opened their market for influx of second hand cars from the west and sold Å koda to Volkswagen. 20 years later, see where are Skoda workers today and where are FSO workers? Did goverment protection of their workplaces and salaries worked well for them? No. Why? Because with that labour costs they were unable to produce the car that anyone would buy. Also, no foreign investor wanted to buy the factory with such guarantees for its employees (except Daewoo who promised golden showers and then went bankrupt). And do you think that anyone bothered, and people were paid more because of your supply and demand rights? Off course not, because just as Britain today (or any day), Poland of 1990 is not the only country in the world. Other companies invested in new factories across the region (Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, other parts of Poland) and left FSO to die.

And this will be exactly what will happen to Britain if you implement your solutions: nobody will buy your overpriced products, or use your overpriced services, and just as FSO could not survive just on its workers buying overpriced Polonez cars, Britain would not survive just on you people buying your overpriced stuff. At least as long as they will have access to better and cheaper stuff made abroad. But off course you can allways follow the path of North Korea and fence yourself around. You will not only sort the problem with emigration, but you will also solve your housing and healthcare problems, as every Briton will do everything to leave this country and go to some normal place, maybe even to Poland?

Off Topic: I know that you think Trabant Car is crap, because is Eastern European, but as for car made in 1950’s it was very modern. Yes, it was very primitive construction, but that was a general trend in the world of motoring of this time (compare it to Citroen 2CV, Renault 4, VW Kafer or Morris Minor). We had one in our family for 17 years and was very reliable, 4 persons can travel it in decent condition and it has big boot. And as for the safety - in 1991 when Germany were reunited, the ADAC made crash tests of Trabant cars to put them in line with their database. Believe or not, but Trabant scored better than Opel Vectra, known to you as Vauxhall Cavalier.

My father had Trabant car, it was the car I learned to drive on. My friend has Morris Minor that he inherited from his grandfather (yeah, some people had Western cars in Poland). And you know what? If I lived in 1960 and was given a choice which one of them to drive, I would NOT choose Morris.

That seems to show that you’re putting 2 + 2 together and coming up with 5 by comparing the apples situation of a protected but mature and developed western economy to the oranges one of a zb’d up communist one by jumping to the conclusion that the free market economy has helped the east european ones in the short term which wouldn’t be too difficult considering that anything would be better than the commy zb of an economy which they had before but which isn’t the same thing as what I’m saying at all.

It’s ironic that you’ve based your comparisons on cheap east european zb products and cheap capitalist ones like zb Morris Minors etc.Which actually helps my argument.The fact is there is no difference between the so called capitalist idea of keeping wage levels,and therefore living standards low,in which the average British worker was/is supposed to be happy with his zb Mickey mouse poverty spec motor and going home to his zb tower block flat when he’s finished work for the day just as the workers in the eastern europe were expected to be happy with by their masters.The products were just a reflection of low living standards not a reflection of what could be achieved in a proper high wage economy.However the east europeans have never had the technical know how to build decent products anyway regardless of their economic system.Which is why even though the Russians have long gone,the east european industries still have to use west european know how to make anything even half decent.

Contrary to your ideas the 1960’s western european and US economies were in fact closer to that ideal of closed protected markets than the modern day global free market economy.The difference was that where the average socialist east european and Russian worker was happy with his Trabant or Lada etc etc and tower block flat the average US and British worker wanted something far better and,at that time,unlike their east european and Russian counterparts, went to their employers and demanded it.Which is why it was more often a case of a three or four bedroom detatched or semi bought with a mortgage and a 6 or 8 cylinder Ford/Vauxhall/Jaguar/Rover/Triumph or Chevrolet/Ford/Chrysler on the driveway than a Morris Minor and a flat that British and American workers were looking to buy with the values,in real terms,of the wages which they were looking for and demanding through the 1960’s/1970’s.

It seems to me that the so called capitalist employers and governments are relying on those inferior expectations,among east european workers,to help increase their profit margins in the short term at the expense of long term growth in wages and living standards in the western developed economies.So those idiots in the communist leadership and their modern capitalist counterparts weren’t/aren’t really that different after all. :imp: :unamused:

While on the subject of the crash worthiness of GM products during the 1950’s I’ve seen these stand up to a good bashing enough times at banger destruction derbys at Wimbledon to know that you wouldn’t want to be hit by one if you were driving a zb Trabant. :open_mouth: :smiling_imp: :laughing:

youtube.com/watch?v=-2kKj1ZN … re=related

youtube.com/watch?v=7mTjxhj4FRk :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Carryfast old bean, you cannot lump the original immigrants in with the new lot, the ones that came to Britain after WW2 were ther to replace all the young men that had died during that tiome, leaving the country with a huge deficit of able bodied young working men, they and their decendants deserve to be in Britain.

Even the Eastern Europeans that want to work don’t cause a problem, as long as they work for the going rate and don’t carve up whatever job they’re doing, the take a lot of abuse about being responsible for dropping wages, but the sad reality is that most of the blame there lies at the door of employers who would only employed them if they were cheaper.

The biggest problem with immigration is the ones who come over just to claim benefits and get a free council house and try as hard as you like, you can’t blame Maggie for that, she tried to flog off all the council houses remember :laughing: That lot are a complete drain on the economy, coincidentally they’re also the ones who hate the British, hate our way of life and want to turn the Uk into the countries that they were so desperate to get out of in the first place :unamused:

As for high fuel prices, I don’t see the problem, all the transport industry has to do is grow a pair and set a fuel surcharge on every rate (how they can run a business without one is beyond me) that way the cost gets passed onto the manufacturers, they have to put their prices up, people stop buying their stuff, they moan to their ■■■■■■ mates in Parliament and the cost of fuel drops to a reasonable level, so simple really :bulb:

newmercman:
Carryfast old bean, you cannot lump the original immigrants in with the new lot, the ones that came to Britain after WW2 were ther to replace all the young men that had died during that tiome, leaving the country with a huge deficit of able bodied young working men, they and their decendants deserve to be in Britain.

Even the Eastern Europeans that want to work don’t cause a problem, as long as they work for the going rate and don’t carve up whatever job they’re doing, the take a lot of abuse about being responsible for dropping wages, but the sad reality is that most of the blame there lies at the door of employers who would only employed them if they were cheaper.

The biggest problem with immigration is the ones who come over just to claim benefits and get a free council house and try as hard as you like, you can’t blame Maggie for that, she tried to flog off all the council houses remember :laughing: That lot are a complete drain on the economy, coincidentally they’re also the ones who hate the British, hate our way of life and want to turn the Uk into the countries that they were so desperate to get out of in the first place :unamused:

As for high fuel prices, I don’t see the problem, all the transport industry has to do is grow a pair and set a fuel surcharge on every rate (how they can run a business without one is beyond me) that way the cost gets passed onto the manufacturers, they have to put their prices up, people stop buying their stuff, they moan to their ■■■■■■ mates in Parliament and the cost of fuel drops to a reasonable level, so simple really :bulb:

It’s a more complicated set of equations that all need to be balanced than that nmm.The whole fuel taxation/deficit/cuts and wage issues thing has removed any lee way that those tossers in the government might have had before the whole economy blew up in their faces.Basically the place is zb’d and according to even the government we’re in the same situation as Greece but the only difference is that we can still borrow yet more money to put ourselves in even more debt cheaper than Greece can so we’re borrowing it and then giving it to the EU as fast as we can borrow it.

The fact is how will importing yet more cheap labour,who all have to be housed and provided for,thereby pushing up demand and therefore housing costs and social security/NHS costs while at the same time putting more downward pressure on wages,so less chance for anyone to pay for it all let alone pay for rip off fuel taxes at the pumps, do anything to solve that situation.Regardless of wether it’s a transport operator trying to pass those costs on through higher rates or the ordinary car user trying to get the money to pay to run the car.Something has to give and the economy is flat lining because no one has got zb all to spend and ‘if’ they do manage to buy something it’s usually cheap foreign imports so just adds to the trade and econmic deficit.The government has painted itself into a corner and it knows it.All it will take now is for savers to call in their money from the banks unless the banks start paying decent interest rates because savers getting ripped off to subsidise zb wages is all that’s keeping the place afloat at the moment.

Carryfast:
That seems to show that you’re putting 2 + 2 together and coming up with 5 by comparing the apples situation of a protected but mature and developed western economy to the oranges one of a zb’d up communist one by jumping to the conclusion that the free market economy has helped the east european ones in the short term which wouldn’t be too difficult considering that anything would be better than the commy zb of an economy which they had before but which isn’t the same thing as what I’m saying at all.

I am glad that you see how ridiculous this comparision is, because you started it. Unlike you, I know the other system well, so I can pick the fragments which are relevants. You have got no clue about Eastern Europe, so you just keep talking your bullishit making idiot of yourself (at least to anyone who got the slightest idea).

It’s ironic that you’ve based your comparisons on cheap east european zb products and cheap capitalist ones like zb Morris Minors etc.

I am sorry that I compared the same class of vehicles. Should I compare Trabant to Mercedes? Or maybe Morris Minor to Tatra 613?

Which actually helps my argument.The fact is there is no difference between the so called capitalist idea of keeping wage levels,and therefore living standards low,in which the average British worker was/is supposed to be happy with his zb Mickey mouse poverty spec motor and going home to his zb tower block flat when he’s finished work for the day just as the workers in the eastern europe were expected to be happy with by their masters.The products were just a reflection of low living standards not a reflection of what could be achieved in a proper high wage economy.However the east europeans have never had the technical know how to build decent products anyway regardless of their economic system.Which is why even though the Russians have long gone,the east european industries still have to use west european know how to make anything even half decent.

Yeah, it shows how wrong you are: regardless of the system, cleaner will always drive Morris Minor (or Trabant or whatever ■■■■ they have in China) and fat cats will be driving top range vehicles like Mercedes or Tatras. No matter how hard you will try, you won’t make people doing simple jobs to afford top class living standards. It is simply impossible and 1000s of years of history showed that already. But you know better.

But you know what the problem is with people, who want better and want to save the world? It always end badly. Lenin was also full of good ideas for working people.

[Contrary to your ideas the 1960’s western european and US economies were in fact closer to that ideal of closed protected markets than the modern day global free market economy.

Off course I know that. That’s why you had 1980 crisis. Greece is delayed with that process and that why they have problems now.

The difference was that where the average socialist east european and Russian worker was happy with his Trabant or Lada etc etc and tower block flat the average US and British worker wanted something far better and,at that time,unlike their east european and Russian counterparts, went to their employers and demanded it.

Again you prove how little you know. Socialist Eastern European dreamed about driving Mercedes and living on a French Riviera, but they had to stick to what was available to them. EXACTLY as his British counterpart.

Which is why it was more often a case of a three or four bedroom

Believe or not, typical British two bedroom flat would fit easily in the two room (that mean two rooms, not two bedrooms and living room) flat I used to live in Poland. It was built in about 1950. Just as one bedroom flat I rented when I first come to Scotland would fit in my parents Polish living room. Believe or not, but some things were better for people in socialism.

detatched or semi bought with a mortgage and a 6 or 8 cylinder Ford/Vauxhall/Jaguar/Rover/Triumph or Chevrolet/Ford/Chrysler on the driveway than a Morris Minor and a flat that British and American workers were looking to buy with the values,in real terms,of the wages which they were looking for and demanding through the 1960’s/1970’s.

Yeah, off course. In 1970s Britain every toilet cleaner was driving brand new Jaguar. Off course I believe you, because I have no reason to believe that you lie to me: We had the same in the East: every factory car park was full of Tatras, Volgas and ГАЗ-13 Чайка :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing:

It seems to me that the so called capitalist employers and governments are relying on those inferior expectations,among east european workers,to help increase their profit margins in the short term at the expense of long term growth in wages and living standards in the western developed economies.So those idiots in the communist leadership and their modern capitalist counterparts weren’t/aren’t really that different after all. :imp: :unamused:

Yeah, that’s a really good thing to them that Eastern European are inferior in general. They are ready to work for a yorkshire pudding per day, because they have no families to feed, no homes to get back to and no dreams - they will be happy with whatever the mighty British emploey offer it, and even if they won’t be happy with that, they go and take this job only to ■■■■ the hardworking Britons, because they envie them their brand new Jags and V8 Rovers. :unamused:

While on the subject of the crash worthiness of GM products during the 1950’s I’ve seen these stand up to a good bashing enough times at banger destruction derbys at Wimbledon to know that you wouldn’t want to be hit by one if you were driving a zb Trabant. :open_mouth: :smiling_imp: :laughing:

When I was talking about Vauxhall Cavaliers, I was meaning the fact, that 1960 Trabant is safer for drivers than 1985 Vauxhall Cavalier, I have it somewher in paper.

See here:
baby-oel.de/temp/forum/seite3.jpg
On the left trabant (construction from 50’s - cab intact)
On the right modern (the article is from 1990s) cars of similar class (Fiat Cinquecento, Renault Twingo) or other classes (Opel Ascona, Isuzu Trooper…)

Say whatever you want, this is outstanding performance from the car that was 40 years old in 1991. Note the breaking steering column, when was that introduced in Vauxhall?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2kKj1ZNeww&feature=related

youtube.com/watch?v=7mTjxhj4FRk :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

First: as usual you don’t even know what you are talking about. The car in your second movie is P50 (as it’s clearly written in the movei description) so it’s two generations before Trabant 601 that saw the light about 1960. It’s a plastic body set on the construction of, if I remember correctly DKW car from mid-war period.

Second: I thought that you are against comparing vehicles from different classes, but obviously that does not apply to you: Trabant was a popular, cheap car, while your Vauxhall cresta was, according to Wikipedia, " This car, code named the PA version one, was one of the more elegant British cars of the late 1950s even though it was not sufficiently upmarket for it to be driven by those who considered themselves the elite of British society. Rock stars could drive them; barristers and doctors would not. This was ironic, because Queen Elizabeth II for many years used a bespoke Estate version as personal transport.". So I guess it was some equivalent of Volswagen Phaeton of nowadays - a good, luxury car, but just comes with a wrong badge…

But since you want to play your silly game, let’s compare these two cars:
The brilliant result of the British outstanding car manufacturing industry (off course driven only by eccentrics, as typical people from Working Class were crusing around in their V8 jags and Bentleys):

And a crappy product of Czechoslovakian inferior village smiths:

As you can see, by picking the movies that suit your views you could prove anything you want, if only you found someone stupid enough to buy it. And as you did with the movies here (let me repeat it again: you picked wrong movie of wrong car and compared it to much better, 15 years later car), this is how you do with facts.

Therefore further discussion is futile. But I had fun as usual, thank you, you never fail to amuse me :wink: