Labour - where now?

[vimothy]

If you're being serious then the most effective way is to "invest" in a broad basket of financial assets and re-invest any gains. Compound for years and bingo.

 

[massrock]

Isn't that spending it though?

 

[vimothy]

If you're holding it in the form of cash. That tends to decrease in value so it's not the best way.

Don't stuff it in your mattress. You want to earn at least the market return.

 

[vimothy]

Isn't that spending it though?

No, that's called saving.

 

[massrock]

No, that's called saving.

But it's in use? So it's not strictly being 'stored'.

I would suggest that the best way to store up huge amounts of wealth is to use it to buy something that is highly desirable, non-perishable and in a guaranteed limited supply.

 

[vimothy]

Like a Ferrari?

 

[vimothy]

Saving always occurs via the purchase of financial assets. Buying tangible goods is not saving.

 

[massrock]

Buying tangible goods is not saving.

No, but it might constitute the storage of wealth.

 

[vimothy]

It can add to net worth, I agree with that. Not without problems though (cough housing price crash cough).

 

[massrock]

Housing price crashes are as a consequence of bubbles so they are readjustments, not really losses.

What I'm getting at, if it's not obvious, is where is the bulk of stored wealth, stored?

The value of a Ferrari is highly dependant on conditions. It's not universally desirable, certainly not *necessary*, and not even especially non-perishable.

Gold represents a kind of proxy value, and is in guaranteed limited supply at present. But land is obviously the real repository of wealth.

 

[massrock]

I mean if I've got huge amounts of money and I want it to endure for generations I would be well advised to own lots of land on a wealthy little island that doesn't penalise me for doing so.

 

[scottdisco]

well, we all know what happened to the UK's gold, massrock...

 

[massrock]

well, we all know what happened to the UK's gold, massrock...

?

 

[massrock]

"You were only supposed to prop the bloody economy up!"

 

[vimothy]

Gold is not a good buy, historically. And land is just another asset class at the end of the day.

 

[don_quixote]

I guess social mobility is what I had in mind.

Higher education fees combined with the drive to get more people into higher education - thus turning university into a way of making sure that only middle class people get middle class jobs - is a big thing.

3 letters

E. M. A.

kids go crazy for it.

brought in by a labour government.

i bet it gets taken away by this one.

 

[baboon2004]

i agree, from the pov of a very rich person, that compassion arguments re limiting their wealth are not cutting it, from their pov.

which is why we need to reintroduce the guillotine!

 

[Sectionfive]

Diane Abbott throwing her hat in the ring.:slanted:

eh,good luck with that

 

[Slothrop]

But yeah, to kind of cut back to my original question, the big issue for labour at the moment is presumably going to be "why did we lose that election and what can we do to avoid losing the next one?"

And I'd be interested to know whether the answer they settle on is likely to be a) something like the issues I already raised or b) "because we weren't enough like the tories to win over the daily mail readers."