Ex Lion Tamer

I'm tired now and can't take both you and Duckhunter on so am going to give in. But I just explained why we can't compare ourselves to Greece, please read it again. When the government compared us to Greece it was actually being pretty irresponsible (or it really is stupid). The Euro is also the reason why you can't compare us to Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal.

I accept that there are differences of opinion and it is impossible to get a conclusive answer. But what you've done there is pick out the only one with a low figure and ignored all the others

- The 75% tax rate in France hasn't even been implemented yet as it was struck down by the courts, so I don't know where you get the idea that everyone has moved away. And even if they did it would show that they had decided to move elsewhere to make more money, not that they wouldn't have the incentive to work if they had stayed. You're confusing incentive to work with an inability to compete internationally, the latter of which I acknowledged above. - The 50% tax rate in the UK didn't raise much money because rich people shifted their earnings to either before or after it was in force. If the government had left it in place they wouldn't have been able to do this. I haven't seen any evidence that it drove people away but you are welcome to show me some - Greece hasn't carried on spending, it has made massive cuts. It's also completely wrong to compare Greece with the UK as their debt has a much shorter repayment time and their membership of the Euro means they don't have the flexibility we have to adjust our currency - Mick Philpott is one bad example that should have been be prevented but that does not mean the entire welfare state is bad. Most people on welfare in the UK are working.

Whatever it takes to get the economy growing. Then we can start paying off the debt. I dispute your belief that taxing people takes away their incentive to work. You really think people are just going to sit around all day because half of the money they earn will go to tax? They will still want to work in order to increase their 50%. In fact, although it is difficult to calculate, research suggests that governments can go up to 70% tax without affecting people's willingness to work or losing revenue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve). The bigger problem is losing business overseas so I wouldn't suggest going that high. But we can't just keep bringing tax rates down and down because then it becomes a race to the bottom, and no countries can afford to pay for roads, police, etc. I suspect we differ on this but the welfare state does actually have important business functions such keeping workers healthy and productive, and preventing poverty-related crime. We need tax revenue to maintain a healthy environment for business.

Ah yes, ok, fair play!

Generate wealth for who? The US is one of the wealthiest countries in the world but also has terrible levels of poverty. You didn't answer whether you have a mortgage. I agree that there has been a shift in wealth to the east but that doesn't mean we are doomed. We need to invest in our infrastructure, education etc to compete and get the economy growing. Given how much money China has lent us they need us to be healthy enough to pay it back, and they need us to be able to afford to buy their products.

Of course Labour was in power at the time so it bears some of the blame, but this article conveniently ignores the fact that the Tories were not opposing this stuff and would probably have deregulated further given the chance. The problem was that Labour went along with the prevailing culture of neo-liberalism which went right back to Thatcher. And it did so because it felt it had to move to the right in order to get elected and stay there.

To balance some of the articles above from right wing publications, here is a properly evidenced report which shows that 'the culture of worklessness' is a myth http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/worklessness-families-employment-summary.pdf

This bit is idiotic. So his policy is self-defeating and cruel but he should be praised for doing it anyway?

Don't give up. Society has moved on impressively in the last 100 years and can do again. On tax, we have already seen Starbucks offering to pay more tax because it was worried about the bad publicity. And the G20 seems to be making genuine plans to tackle tax avoidance: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21481932

They still have to work hard to prove to their funders that the work they are doing is worthwhile. This article is a good summary of how left and right wing think tanks are funded: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/12/thinktanks-crushing-democracy-pr-agenices

So you don't have a mortgage then? Sometimes you have to borrow to invest in the future. I do think Brown overspent during the good times, but trying to cut back to 'what we can afford' in a recession is madness. Low tax economies are are self-defeating race to the bottom, because they merely force other countries to do the same, and we are back to where we started. It's similar to how Clinton deregulated banking in the US, forcing other countries such as the UK to do the same in order to attract business, and leading us into this financial crash.

He studied history. Rachel Reeves and Matt Hancock are economists and have diametrically opposed views, so I guess it doesn't really help. Or possibly the latter is just an idiot

There are left and right wing think tanks, so it's who he decides to listen to. In that respect he doesn't really need to be an economist, but it might help him make an informed decision. Instead we get ideology driving his choices. On a related note, most of the right wing think tanks are funded by big business which is why they advocate policies which help the wealthy managerial classes rather than those who need it most. A better understanding of economics would help him sees through the fog of information

This was my first game of the season so I may be out of touch. But an I right in saying there was goal music after we scored, and if so is this new? Thankfully it was quiet so not too intrusive, but still a bit crap

So many players have seemed totally awful and gone on to be good, so I wouldn't write him off.

Way too much responsibility on Shaw's shoulders at the moment

Ok I will go with the majority then!

I'm not trying to knock the guy as he has made a big difference for us, but for the sake of balance I would suggest that his positioning for their goal was 'interesting'. I wouldn't be unhappy if we gave him a new contract but equally I think we'd be able to get as good a keeper in the summer if we decided to let him go

Under Adkins our centre mids were always a bit static, and to be fair it served us well. But it is really great to now see Morgan and Davis breaking into the box at pace and scoring tap ins

The US declined to make big cuts to their economy, they even lost their AAA credit rating, and yet their economy is now growing. Given that we're not in the euro there's no way our economy should be performing worse than most European countries. It just needs a proper growth plan with investment in infrastructure. This whole idea that we have to urgently pay off our debt is a false one spread by politicians who have an ideological belief in reducing the size of the state

There appears to be an outbreak of sanity on this thread, someone stamp it out

He will justify his price tag next season. Unfortunately we need him now, and that is the flaw with our transfer policy of signing young players with potential

Who was the guy on Solent who pronounced Le Tissier phonetically for about 15 years?

Ok they didn't necessarily play at the top level but they observed how top clubs operate in other roles, eg Mourniho was interpreter at Barcelona, AVB worked in lesser roles at Porto before becoming manager. Anyway, I was responding to the assertion that all managers lack top flight experience until they get it. In fact most get that experience in other roles (I'm sure there are exceptions). Adkins has been at a disadvantage compared to most rookie managers as he has never worked within a top flight club in any capacity