tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post3881924283803983934..comments2024-03-29T12:16:15.785+00:00Comments on mainly macro: George Osborne’s European triumphMainly Macrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984575852247982901noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-14001574004272989162014-11-12T13:01:36.020+00:002014-11-12T13:01:36.020+00:00You mean: yet another example why there won't ...You mean: yet another example why there won't be true fiscal union for the EU so long as the UK stays in the EU. It's the UK as usual clogging up the works. It doesn't matter whether the government is Tory, UKIP, or Labour; the UK is poison to the EU - and what's more, it likes it that way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-19826343299661999512014-11-10T10:37:23.420+00:002014-11-10T10:37:23.420+00:00Not sure if my maths/understanding is right on all...Not sure if my maths/understanding is right on all this but I thought the impact of raising our GDP estimates produced a backward adjustment over the last 11 years of £1.7bn or lets say £200m in 2014 and an increase in the rebate of c£500m each year from now on. The recalculation could have been spun as a triumph right from the beginning.ojhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16155851622878674856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-57853071318768403062014-11-09T19:00:25.527+00:002014-11-09T19:00:25.527+00:00Once the details of what THE CHANCELLOR said aroun...Once the details of what THE CHANCELLOR said around lunch time on friday was looked into it was a lie. But the media spun the story that he has done something great. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-70134597032359395762014-11-08T20:34:49.358+00:002014-11-08T20:34:49.358+00:00And all this because the government to make debt l...And all this because the government to make debt look smaller and to boost share prices have "improved" the definition of reported nominal GDP so that it looks bigger retroactively.<br /><br />Since the EU contributions are proportional to reported nominal GDP, and other countries have "improved" their definition less than the UK, the UK reported nominal GDP looks like having grown larger and thus the contribution has to be larger.<br /><br />But the press etc. do not seem fond to point out that the larger UK contribution is due directly to the UK government's decision to "improve" the definition of reported nominal GDP to make it looks larger.<br />Blissexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-27215494771626294892014-11-08T19:45:08.552+00:002014-11-08T19:45:08.552+00:00'So was “halving the bill” a last minute gift ...'So was “halving the bill” a last minute gift from other EU finance ministers? Had the Commission gifted the UK some money without telling anyone else what it intended to do? Neither, of course. The Chancellor had made that bit up. He had simply subtracted the UK rebate, which the UK was going to get anyway.'<br /><br />When the blog of an academic puts it more clearly and succinctly than either the opposition or the media, you cease to wonder how the government continues to get away with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-46248058180043991052014-11-08T17:23:56.347+00:002014-11-08T17:23:56.347+00:00Just because the (utterly useless) British press d...Just because the (utterly useless) British press didn't pick up on that part of the story, it doesn't mean the EU wasn't talking about it.<br /><br />Here's Budget Commissioner Jacek Dominik at an October 27th press conference.<br /><br />"Let me point out in this respect that the UK will benefit from the UK rebate for the additional payments in 2014. This will be budgeted in May 2015 when the UK rebate is recalculated."<br /><br />http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-14-723_fr.htmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-45727233064208526942014-11-08T16:40:22.419+00:002014-11-08T16:40:22.419+00:00So, we have a Chancellor who at best fluffs his li...So, we have a Chancellor who at best fluffs his lines; at worst not only can he not do sums, he actually makes the answers up with glee. <br /><br />Well, they do say that those who can do numbers become scientists, those who can't do the arts (Modern History for Gideon, but journalism must be in there) and those who are good at both become Economists... or not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-68561578951986832712014-11-08T13:19:21.438+00:002014-11-08T13:19:21.438+00:00Yet another example of why there will never be a t...Yet another example of why there will never be a true fiscal union to save the EU. Can anyone imagine this much press complaining about minor redistributions from wealthy New York state to Alabama? Never. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15433129947896088098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-8238790687075925472014-11-08T12:01:52.936+00:002014-11-08T12:01:52.936+00:00If this Tory government is going to be reelected (...If this Tory government is going to be reelected (I guess the Liberal Democrats will not be a factor), Great Britain can't be helped anymore.Alexander Sebastian Schulzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15135338616598357444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-77036861295173969992014-11-08T10:49:47.856+00:002014-11-08T10:49:47.856+00:00This debate reminds me of Andrew Lang’s famous quo...This debate reminds me of Andrew Lang’s famous quotation: ’He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts...for support rather than illumination’!Roger Sealeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-34759978464983477402014-11-08T10:07:34.007+00:002014-11-08T10:07:34.007+00:00Even LBC managed to have Tory MEP Daniel Hanan say...Even LBC managed to have Tory MEP Daniel Hanan saying that the Cameron-Osborne explanation was duff. <br /><br />You know you're BBC is in trouble when...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-56439165444211587472014-11-08T09:01:10.814+00:002014-11-08T09:01:10.814+00:00rebate, which the UK was going to get anyway."... rebate, which the UK was going to get anyway."<br /><br />I'm sure you can point me to where you said, before yesterday, that the UK "was going to get" the rebate.<br /><br />"the FT reports Commission officials as saying that the rebate was never, ever in doubt."<br /><br />Well they would say that, wouldn't they?Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14992173417106615152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-20979752829226750742014-11-08T00:25:44.106+00:002014-11-08T00:25:44.106+00:00Though to be fair Chris Cook has a different versi...Though to be fair Chris Cook has a different version, about the rebate for previous years being bigger than it first appeared because the revised GNI figures lead to a higher rebate, and that it is this that is offsetting the 2015 payment.Paulhttp://thoughcowardsflinch.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-10544210524417268982014-11-08T00:22:31.597+00:002014-11-08T00:22:31.597+00:00I think the Tesco analogy goes a bit further than ...I think the Tesco analogy goes a bit further than you suggest, Simon. If the FT is to be believed, some of the EU rebate is being brought forward from 2016 in order to meet the full bill in 2015, meaning we will only get 1bn euros in 2016. <br /><br />This is rather like Tesco drawing forward future income into into its figures in order to boost short term profits and deceive shareholders about how well the business is doing. Tesco are now under invesitgation from the SFO, of course.Paulhttp://thoughcowardsflinch.comnoreply@blogger.com