Well, it would seem my return was a mistake. Thanks for the memories Metropol.

Goodbye.

Care to clarify your definition of "choice"? I am assuming it's quite a scientific one, like "not physically dragged to a loom and forced at gunpoint to work" In a developed country with a welfare system in place to support those on low or no incomes, that's actually not far off...

Yes, that's right Gavin. "Capitalist" models completely fail to take into account that workers face living costs. I just want to boost company profits because I'm the spawn of Satan. Damn, you got me. :roll: If a person accepts a job paying £3.10 an hour, then guess what - they are willing...

Why would they employ more people if they could get the work done for less money? Because all suppliers in that market could increase output. To give a slightly more technical explanation of that - in a competitive market, if per unit production costs decrease (ie. labour costs have fallen), then p...

M Q, what jobs would you suggest are overpaid at the minimum wage rate? Well, I'm not wild about the term 'overpaid' - that implies some kind of subjective judgment, which I don't want to enter into. But a minimum wage is a price floor - the policy doesn't allow the wage to fall lower than a fixed ...

Of course, that's not a problem if everyone who wants a job at £3.10 can get it at the (higher) minimum wage. But they can't - because employers simply won't offer the same number of jobs. There is a market for labour - businesses demand workers, and we supply our services. But when the price of vi...

Hi guys. Somebody asked me to drop in, so let me just offer some food for thought. If working for £3.10 an hour is so bad, surely nobody would want to. In which case, there would actually be no need for a minimum wage, since nobody would work for such a small amount. The point is that some people wo...

I really, really don't want to live in your "ideal" capitalist society Mr Q, because it sounds to me like you're a very small step from sterilising the poor and euthanising the disabled. You know what Gavin - it's fine if you want to snap at me rather than engage in a discussion of the is...

I really, really don't want to live in your "ideal" capitalist society Mr Q, because it sounds to me like you're a very small step from sterilising the poor and euthanising the disabled. You know what Gavin - it's fine if you want to snap at me rather than engage in a discussion of the is...

But to be fair you probably don't think the NHS is worthy either, do you? I didn't say that housing affordability issues should be ignored. I questioned whether the government building houses was the best way to address it. Obviously it's a problem that affects low income earners (after all, if you...

1) I'm not assuming anything. I'm quoting Cameron. They want general and wide ranging cuts to both public services and capital projects. Cameron's view is the cuts will help the struggling economy. Care to explain how that will work? Well, hanging a massive debt around the public's neck is not goin...