The 2015 Popularity Contest (aka UK General Election )

[Milk]

Milk is ace it has to be said. Reckon I get through a good 6-7 pints a week.

Excellent!
Hope it's blue top. That hasn't been messed about and neutered. Not called Nature's Ambrosia for nothing

 

[WA Toffee]

I read recently that NZ farmers are amongst the most efficient in the world. They had all of their subsidies scrapped a wee while ago so they had to shape up to survive, which they seem to have done really well. It was in the Economist and all, so you'd imagine they're not that sad about subsidies going, so not sure how true it is.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Fonterra was set up as a co-op to tackle the global giants like Nestle, Danone etc, which pretty much had the effect of wiping out all competition and centralising everything therfore slashing overhead cost my a huge margin.

 

[Milk]

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Fonterra was set up as a co-op to tackle the global giants like Nestle, Danone etc, which pretty much had the effect of wiping out all competition and centralising everything therfore slashing overhead cost my a huge margin.

Correct. And now they pretty much control the Global Dairy Auction (GDA) but they have dropped a bullock recently by sending skimmed milk powder to China not up to spec. so our Chinese friends have decided to invest in their own NZ factory (to go along with other vast farming investments in Africa and elsewhere).

 

[WA Toffee]

Correct. And now they pretty much control the Global Dairy Auction (GDA) but they have dropped a bullock recently by sending skimmed milk powder to China not up to spec. so our Chinese friends have decided to invest in their own NZ factory (to go along with other vast farming investments in Africa and elsewhere).

I thought that was Nestle with the dodgy milk powder?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Excellent!
Hope it's blue top. That hasn't been messed about and neutered. Not called Nature's Ambrosia for nothing

Semi-skimmed I'm afraid.

 

[Clint Planet]

I think it looks at things from the wrong angle. Whether we like it or not, we're trading in a global market now. Raising the minimum wage won't make someone more valuable to an employer, them being more skilled will do, and better wages will flow from that. That would be a better place to focus energies I think.

A more skilled tomato picker? A really good cleaner? A super-productive bar worker? That sort of thing?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

A more skilled tomato picker? A really good cleaner? A super-productive bar worker? That sort of thing?

Well yeah, kind of. No one pays me unless I'm doing something of value for them. The more value I offer, the more I stand to earn. That's the same in any profession. If it wasn't, politicians could mandate the minimum wage be £1,000 an hour and everyone would be really well off. Doesn't really work like that though.

 

[Milk]

I thought that was Nestle with the dodgy milk powder?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/05/fonterra-baby-formula-milk-bacteria

Before that it was the 2008 melamine scandal.
The Chinese are getting a bit p*ssed off and had stopped buying (one of the many reasons for the UK milk price collapse) but they are slowly re-entering the market again.

 

[Jxg]

You and I both know that a lot of political mudslinging, scaremongering and slander goes on in these papers as common practice without repercussions. The editors know the law on defamation and they use the loopholes to get around it.

I can't take serious an article which claims to be an insight into green policies, but which has subheadings such as ''vegetarianism for all'', ''sign up to al-qaeda'' and ''open doors'' as if it is all so black and white and as if these are the outcomes the greens purport to achieve. It's so biased and selective in its quoting to suit it's own anti-liberal agenda.

You'll have to read past the headlines in the same way that you don't judge a book by its cover. Headlines are there to grab attention and may be an extreme possibility but the bulk of the text, the parts actually listing and explaining their policies, is all true.

The only way the greens are going to fund their loopy "free money for everyone, yayyyy!" policies is if they start growing some magical money trees. Being The Green Party, that's probably an aim.

I do think it's possible for politicians to go to university and plan to go unto politics, and still understand their voters and do well by them.

Of course it is. David Cameron went to university. He planned to go into politics. He understands his most important supporters (businesses) and he does very well by them indeed, no?

 

[Basil Fawlty]

Well yeah, kind of. No one pays me unless I'm doing something of value for them. The more value I offer, the more I stand to earn. That's the same in any profession. If it wasn't, politicians could mandate the minimum wage be £1,000 an hour and everyone would be really well off. Doesn't really work like that though.

I've worked at call centres that have had premium rate phone numbers, taking 60 calls an hour at £1 a minute, more from mobiles, and still earned minimum wage. Making the company a fortune whilst not costing them a penny. Productivity is alright to use as a barometer in middle class jobs but it doesn't Impact wages for the vast majority of the subsistence class though.

 

[Clint Planet]

Well yeah, kind of. No one pays me unless I'm doing something of value for them. The more value I offer, the more I stand to earn. That's the same in any profession. If it wasn't, politicians could mandate the minimum wage be £1,000 an hour and everyone would be really well off. Doesn't really work like that though.

It doesn't really work they way you've described it, either.

And really? A more skilled tomato picker? A highly-trained cleaner?

 

[Clint Planet]

I've worked at call centres that have had premium rate phone numbers, taking 60 calls an hour at £1 a minute, more from mobiles, and still earned minimum wage. Making the company a fortune whilst not costing them a penny. Productivity is alright to use as a barometer in middle class jobs but it doesn't Impact wages for the vast majority of the subsistence class though.

Hear hear. Bruce thinks there should be no minimum wage and thinks Unions should be abolished, it seems. I'm beginning to see what he meant when he said he knew very little about inequality.

 

[bring the ghost on]

The only way the greens are going to fund their loopy "free money for everyone, yayyyy!" policies is if they start growing some magical money trees. Being The Green Party, that's probably an aim.

Well no, it would be funded by fairer redistribution of wealth. You seem to brand anyone who disagrees with your capitalist mindset as a ''looney lefty'' just because they dare offer an alternative way of thinking. The greens aren't proposing anything which can't be achieved.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I've worked at call centres that have had premium rate phone numbers, taking 60 calls an hour at £1 a minute, more from mobiles, and still earned minimum wage. Making the company a fortune whilst not costing them a penny. Productivity is alright to use as a barometer in middle class jobs but it doesn't Impact wages for the vast majority of the subsistence class though.

It's obviously hard to comment on your particular experience, but I'd be surprised if the majority of call centre operations actually make money. I mean just in that one area we've seen growing automation, an increase in trying to get customers to self-serve via the web (or to get customers helping one another), and of course the off-shoring of the process.

All of those things take time and effort to do. If having a call centre was a money spinner, why is it that Amazon and their ilk increasingly don't even offer such a facility?

It doesn't really work they way you've described it, either.

And really? A more skilled tomato picker? A highly-trained cleaner?

Yes, or as we've seen above, someone will do it for you. There seems to be a growing trend away from call centres (for instance), so if someone can't justify the cost of hiring them, increasingly they won't be hired in that role.

Hear hear. Bruce thinks there should be no minimum wage and thinks Unions should be abolished, it seems. I'm beginning to see what he meant when he said he knew very little about inequality.

I don't think it works. The minimum wage seems to imply that there are huge amounts of money floating around that people are swimming about in. The average profit margin for the S&P500 is 7.8% (http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/margin.html). With that they have to save away for a rainy day and invest in their business.

I'd be fairly confident in saying that the margins in smaller companies are much thinner than that.

As I've said before, make people more skilled and they won't have to worry about their income. Surely you can get on board with that?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Well no, it would be funded by fairer redistribution of wealth. You seem to brand anyone who disagrees with your capitalist mindset as a ''looney lefty'' just because they dare offer an alternative way of thinking. The greens aren't proposing anything which can't be achieved.

The interview Natalie Bennett did on the Daily Politics a month back doesn't really support that. The ideas seemed pretty poorly thought out and certainly not costed, which is a shame as having someone shake up the LabCon duopoly would certainly be very welcome.