can the UK regain the spirit which made it a powerhouse a long time ago?

Discussion in 'Economics' started by zdreg, Sep 3, 2011.

can the UK be an economic powerhouse again? ?n?

  1. yes

    4 vote(s)
    11.8%
  2. no

    24 vote(s)
    70.6%
  3. maybe

    5 vote(s)
    14.7%
  4. question is too philosophical to answer.

    1 vote(s)
    2.9%
  1. zdreg

    zdreg

  2. Visaria

    Visaria

    No.
     
  3. If you want to gain power and wealth by enslaving people then you have to do it from the inside and that's not their style.
     
  4. too dumb. too indebted. too uneducated.

    was easy 'freeing' countries when alert level was zero. This is not the case any longer.
     
  5. the1

    the1

    No and they are going to have good company soon from about 300 million of their fellow friends from across the pond.
     
  6. The UK will never be the industrial powerhouse it once was but it is still well placed (despite recent mishaps) to be strong player in finance and insurance markets. We still have niche automotive and engineering concerns that will always prevail in world markets but as a whole manufacturing has hit bottom. What I have noticed recently is the narrowing price gap between certain low end consumer products manufactured in China and the UK especially plastics. Some manufacturing industries may come back home in the near future.
     
  7. The UK did very well in the past, when it was easy to civilize native tribes in places like Africa, India etc. But now these tribes have the internet and suchlike, so it will be difficult for our UK allies to regrow its empire.

    One way to gain more wealth would be to attack Iran and transfer ownership of Iranian oil into western oil companies hands like we did in Iraq. I would support such a move. The added benefit to attacking Iran is to defend our key ally Israel.

    On this basis, I voted for 'maybe' in this excellent poll.
     
  8. Humpy

    Humpy

    The post-war love-in of the USA and Israel is THE millstone around the USA's neck and ours too because we are such poodles.
    The Arab/muslim world will never forgive Israel for stealing their land after WW2. The Jewish population in Palestine rose from 60,000 then to its present 3million plus. They didn't buy most of the land but took it by force. The previous owners languish in filthy refugee camps in Lebanon/Syria/Jordan.
    The present war will go to a bitter end imho and that is the total defeat of 1 side or the other. There is no room for negotiation by the Arabs. Either the land is all given back or the war goes on and on.
    America and the West are bankrupt and should try and realize that they are the ones on the brink of defeat. How much pain can a modern country take ? Our leaders are too stupid to see the obvious !
     
  9. CrackPipe

    CrackPipe Guest

    dont be silly.

    with out detracting from the subject, nobody in the uk supports israel. read the news and see for your self. given the number of brits who died in WW2 fighting the nazis, it turns their stomachs to see the jews who they liberated, and then set up israel for the jews turn around and behave like the nazis.

    back to the point:

    no, the uk will never get back what they had. this is for 2 reasons:
    1. as dragons teeth correctly stated, there is no manufacturing in the uk anymore. that will be key to any revival. it was making stuff that made the brits what they achieved NOT imperilaising the world. that was simply a by-product of making so much stuff in order to make even more stuff and control trade.
    2. most of the uk's wealth and development is actually from foreign companies. most of the service companies are foreign, ok there are a few british banks like barclays and hsbc, but they are really 'global' rather than uk entities. pretty much all the assets are owned by foreigners - take london property as an example. apart from a bit owned by the candy brothers, and a chunk owned by duke of westminster, the rest is arab or chinese owned.

    the uk makes its money by trading and skimming parts off these foreigners.

    the uk has sold out. shame.
     
  10. Visaria

    Visaria

    All of this is bullshit. Candy brothers!!! :p

    The vast majority of property in London is owned by Brits.

    Define foreign company.

    There's plenty of manufacturing in the UK. Do you even know which country is the biggest manufacturer of goods in the world?
     
    #10     Sep 4, 2011