1. THE PROBLEM

Britain is downing in an ocean of government, corporate and household debt. Until the forthcoming General Election, the regime appears hell-bent on piling on more and more debt and storing up ever larger problems in the future through a series of short-termist and desperate measures which appear to add up to approximately £1 trillion of current and future taxation. It does not have a proper democratic mandate to do so.

Michael Saunders of CitiGroup has put together extraordinary calculations of external debt. These figures represent a composite of government, corporate and household debt, and show clearly that Britain is in an absurdly vulnerable position that vastly outweighs other G7 countries. The total level of external debt to other countries is calculated at 400% of GDP, with debt to be paid in the next year at 300% of GDP. The calculations are referred to in the following article:

The true extent of Britain's debt (Coffee House):
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/3078296/the-true-extent-of-britains-debt.thtml

In contrast, the USA has a composite external debt level of 100% of GDP, which is not negligable but is clearly a fraction of the British equivalent. The USA also has the potential advantage that the US dollar is still effectively the world reserve currency. The pound sterling, on the other hand, is most certainly not the world reserve currency, and has not been since the end of the British empire.

Nadeem Walayat of Market Oracle has also produced a succint compendium of different spheres of analysis and an overall appraisal of the direction in which we are moving, entitled "Bankrupt Britain Trending Towards Hyper-Inflation?" which can be found here:
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article7526.html

The regime has led us to the brink of a precipice. Government gilt sales (in effect, IOUs) reached £146.4bn in 2008, and are projected to continue at historically unprecedented levels over the forthcoming years. Over the past decade they averaged out at approximately £20bn per year. In such circumstances, and whatever the short-term effects of 'quantitative easing', protecting each other is paramount, as we cannot rely on others to protect us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilts






2. THE SOLUTIONS

How can we protect each other from economic, financial and currency collapse in the short, medium and long term?

Is it worth moving all assets away from the pound sterling as soon as possible?

How can we protect individual wealth?

How can we protect collective wealth?

How can we rebuild our economic and financial system and make it environmentally and economically sustainable after the General Election?

Should Britain attempt to join the Euro?

If Britian did attempt to join the Euro, would it be allowed or would the British debt level prevent it from happening?

Instead of joining the Euro, should Britain create a new form of pound (a Republican Pound, for example, after the removal of the monarchy)?

Instead of joining the Euro, should Britain attempt to join in a currency union with a country such as Norway? Would this be compromised by the fact that Norway used its North Sea oil reserves in a patient, long-term fashion to create a healthy sovereign wealth fund whereas Britain used it in a short-term fashion to create a casino economy and a house price bubble? In other words, even if Britain wanted to join a (dwindling) North Sea oil currency union with Norway outside of the undemocratic EU, what on earth would be in it for the Norwegians?

Should Britain ask for an IMF loan?

Could the IMF even give Britain a loan given its own parlous finances?

How can we engineer sustainable solutions to the crisis of rocketing unemployment?

Shoudl we have an independent statistical agency which provides real information on everything from unemployment to inflation rather than one which provides information to suit the regime?


Resources on the financial and economic crisis and solutions to it:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29870128588

Sustainable New Deal - Boost Long Term Employment:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=62639063184

The Euro referendum: if not now when?
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13712058308 (read less)

1. THE PROBLEM

Britain is downing in an ocean of government, corporate and household debt. Until the forthcoming General Election, the regime appears hell-bent on piling on more and more debt and storing up ever larger problems in the future through a series of short-termist and desperate measures which appear to add up to approximately £1 trillion of current and future taxation. It does not have a proper democratic mandate to do so.

Michael Saunders of CitiGroup has put together... (read more)