Matt Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 LDV told 'no more government aid' The government has told ailing van maker LDV that the taxpayer cannot be expected to bail out the firm, after it asked for £30m in loans. The firm has asked the government for a bridging loan because it is "literally running out of cash". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7904918.stm I've heard 6 thousand jobs are at risk, this is very interesting because since I was a little boy in the seventies, pretty much every year has been bad news for car manufacture. British Leyland, Austin, Rover being chopped up by BMW, Sunderland, Vauxhall, Honda, 2000 jobs here, 1500 there. Just how big was the British Car Industry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackey Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7904918.stm I've heard 6 thousand jobs are at risk, this is very interesting because since I was a little boy in the seventies, pretty much every year has been bad news for car manufacture. British Leyland, Austin, Rover being chopped up by BMW, Sunderland, Vauxhall, Honda, 2000 jobs here, 1500 there. Just how big was the British Car Industry! When asked what I thought of the proposed US bail out of their car industry I said it should be allowed to go under, as to prop it up gives it false economies and encourages inefficiency. To say anything different about LDV would be wrong. The current crisis is bad enough without nationalising dozens of inefficient companies to save jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 If nobody is buying, why fund a business to make things we don't want? I don't get it. I've just heard that some other company has been urged to accept at least pay freeze for the next 12 months and start working a four day week. I seem to remember all this happening in the seventies; three-day-week, no electricity - we've stepped back nearly 40 years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackey Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 If nobody is buying, why fund a business to make things we don't want? I don't get it. I've just heard that some other company has been urged to accept at least pay freeze for the next 12 months and start working a four day week. I seem to remember all this happening in the seventies; three-day-week, no electricity - we've stepped back nearly 40 years... Part of the reason for that fall back, aside from the obvious banking/loans issues, is that many of the more powerful western nations who protest free trade have vastly subsidised, under-taxed, and generally supported vastly inefficient industries such as the US car manufacturers. A great fact I had a couple of years ago, so forgive me recalling from memory, was that the average cow in the European Union recieved more than 700% more 'aid' in it's lifetime than a child/adult in the third world. We may protest free trade and hail it as our saviour, but if we're to continue under it we need to fix it's many ills - something which will never happen whilst those who have the power to fix it can still make millions from it's corruptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 We may protest free trade and hail it as our saviour, but if we're to continue under it we need to fix it's many ills - something which will never happen whilst those who have the power to fix it can still make millions from it's corruptions. Precisely - all too often people who blame the ills of the world on free trade/capitalism etc are actually describing a very heavily regulated, government controlled or influenced situation. LDV has made losses for the last 4 year years, why take more money from viable businesses/people's pockets/your grandchildren to keep them going now, when plainly nobody will be buying their product for years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackey Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Precisely - all too often people who blame the ills of the world on free trade/capitalism etc are actually describing a very heavily regulated, government controlled or influenced situation. LDV has made losses for the last 4 year years, why take more money from viable businesses/people's pockets/your grandchildren to keep them going now, when plainly nobody will be buying their product for years? Yeah but it'll save billions and trillions of jobs and stop poverty and save the children and...and...and... There is no fixing a company by throwing money at it and that's what we, the US and the rest of the world are trying to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimsleftfoot Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) Precisely - all too often people who blame the ills of the world on free trade/capitalism etc are actually describing a very heavily regulated, government controlled or influenced situation. LDV has made losses for the last 4 year years, why take more money from viable businesses/people's pockets/your grandchildren to keep them going now, when plainly nobody will be buying their product for years? Exactermonde!!! The Subsidised cow is an example of the French protectionist economy which runs counter to the more anglo saxon free(er) trade model. I say free(er) trade as free trade does not exist. Even the US which is the free trade flag carrier tends to be a lot more protectionist than it might seem to the naked eye. Vodafone are also looking to get rid of 500 jobs as they need to cut costs. The same Vodafone that managed to find £30m in spare change to buy a business to business mobile phone company that my mate worked for... and then got rid of every member of staff at the company just before xmas. Edited February 24, 2009 by jimsleftfoot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackey Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Vodafone are also looking to get rid of 500 jobs as they need to cut costs. The same Vodafone that managed to find £30m in spare change to buy a business to business mobile phone company that my mate worked for... and then got rid of every member of staff at the company just before xmas. Free trade at it's finest there. They've done, on a business level, the smart thing. They bought a business with X-customers and thus Y-income and then removed Z-costs. So stand alone the business was making (eg) £10, but by cutting the costs drastically they've made it make £15. It's an excellent business model if you can work it well. It's free trade at it's finest. But the cost to the economy is the loss of 50 jobs or whatever and whilst me and you (and especially your mate) can look on and question the morals of such actions the fact is that if we're to run free market economies then we can't really expect that to change. It's one of the biggest problems of free trade and will never ever go away, that compaines are legally bound to their shareholders and not to morals and as such have to act in an agressive and selfish manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimsleftfoot Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Free trade at it's finest there. They've done, on a business level, the smart thing. They bought a business with X-customers and thus Y-income and then removed Z-costs. So stand alone the business was making (eg) £10, but by cutting the costs drastically they've made it make £15. It's an excellent business model if you can work it well. It's free trade at it's finest. But the cost to the economy is the loss of 50 jobs or whatever and whilst me and you (and especially your mate) can look on and question the morals of such actions the fact is that if we're to run free market economies then we can't really expect that to change. It's one of the biggest problems of free trade and will never ever go away, that compaines are legally bound to their shareholders and not to morals and as such have to act in an agressive and selfish manner. True, in terms of shareholder value it makes a lot of business sense. It makes me wonder what life would be like without stockmarkets. I personally think we will see a bit of a move away from the way we currently finance everything to something more sustainable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackey Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 True, in terms of shareholder value it makes a lot of business sense. It makes me wonder what life would be like without stockmarkets. I personally think we will see a bit of a move away from the way we currently finance everything to something more sustainable Nah. High risk portfolios will always generate the best short term returns, and despite what we're seeing now, once the dust settles this is where we'll return to. People who lost £15m in this down turn will return to risky investments to try and recoup their money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stebuzz Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7904918.stm I've heard 6 thousand jobs are at risk, this is very interesting because since I was a little boy in the seventies, pretty much every year has been bad news for car manufacture. British Leyland, Austin, Rover being chopped up by BMW, Sunderland, Vauxhall, Honda, 2000 jobs here, 1500 there. Just how big was the British Car Industry! think of it this way. no more LDV VANS trophy. phew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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