Does austerity kill people? Mark Littlewood and David Stuckler debate the issue

Comments

[Ross J Warren]

Of course it's affected peoples mental health. and as a result some people have taken their own lives. The irresponsible scaremongering of the media has had a hand in this. How we achieve the balancing of our books is a matter for politicians to wrestle over,but it's plain to me that we need growth rather than Austerity. Remember these are only Fiat pounds and debts cannot be recovered from people who have no money. Keeping our economy going is frankly more important than the short term interests of billionaires. Those who are owed the money of course want to see a return on their investment, but may well have little choice but to accepted the erosion of part, rather than nothing at all.

The simple fact is the economy has not collapsed and short of gross stupidity it will not. However some people have recently been pushed over the edge by ill thought through cuts. These should be reversed,because frankly it makes little difference if we 900% in debt or 1,000% such sums can only be repaid over many extra decades and with inflated promises.

[radsatser]

Not sure if austerity kills people, but it will certainly be a shock to the system for the generations who have wanted for nothing.

Many under the age of 40, who have grown up in a materialistic world, who even after they have supposedly matured and become independent, still rely on the bank of mum and dad who usually indulge them. I would imagine they could have a serious problem when they actually have to focus on keeping a roof over their heads and food in their belly, rather than whether they can have a new car, or the latest phone, pad of 3D TV.

Previous generations would have started making provision for themselves practically from the day they got their first wage packet, because in most cases their parents could not help them, and whilst they might not like austerity, they can and will adapt to it simply because it is a world that most of them grew up in.

Link that with the new reality that both sexes are required to be in touch with their feminine side, and all the emotions that go with it, and perhaps you have the recipe for large numbers of people who are neither prepared for the financial rigours of austerity, or that have the emotional strength to fight through it without support.

If nothing else, austerity will give them all a reality check on life.

[Paul Harris]

The job centre regime is causing inefficiency in that it is saying to everyone they must take the first available job, no matter what it is or they lose 6 months pay and will be made homeless. There are about ten times as many jobless as there are jobs at any particular point, so if one were to simply think in terms of maximising the economy then the object of the exercise would be to ensure that for each job that came up the person who fits it the best is the one who should do it.

Now with the job centre, after 6 months you will be very unglad to find out that a lifetime’s worth of skill and experience will count for nothing. They tell people who are engineers and scientists that because they haven’t managed to find a job in their specialist field then they will be given menial jobs like scrubbing floors. So you might have nuclear scientists making the beds in care homes while we find these jobs that they were doing are increasingly being filled by immigrants.

It’s like our country is being taken over and the British are being forced into menial slave labour. The devil is always in the detail and if you don’t know the detail you can’t really assess it. This thing has been made to look pretty on the superficial level. One needs to comb through thousands of pages of rules and regulations to see how absolutely wicked the whole plot is.

People will die. People have already died from these changes. It isn’t a case of ‘it must be done to save the economy’ and on the contrary it is making our economy worse, not better. It’s a non-job industry. You have are people made jobless who are prey to thousands of pen pushers, councillors, therapists, equal opportunity officers, inspectors, managers and more and more useless people doing damage for money. They literally get paid for bullying them. I'm sure that even Gaddafi wasn't that bad.

[robertnow]

Austerity does not kill people but terrorism does - implement the Communications Data Bill regardless of the awful Nick Clegg.

[reasoninrevolt]

"If nothing else, austerity will give them all a reality check on life."

Perhaps it'd be more effective if it gave them a job at the same time.

[Derek]

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/cameron-orders-end-to-health-test-companys-monopoly.21681812

here is an article from the Herald about ATOS. This backs up what David and Sanjay said about the huge amount of taxpayer money these guys are getting and what a poor job they have been doing.
I wonder if they will be made to pay back some of our money.