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Comment by monero-xmr | Hacker News Reader

The real solution to the UK’s stagnation is accepting the truly politically difficult truth - the UK is getting poorer, year after year. The empire is long dead and gone, and their number 1 growth company and success story of the last decade is OnlyFans, a global smut purveyor.

The UK needs to radically reduce its social safety net and simultaneously cut taxes, at least for new companies and small businesses. The only way out is real, sustained, long term growth and innovation. Stealing ever more of a shrinking pie is already running out of steam.

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Privatisation and attacking social security does not work, it just makes the wealthy even wealthier.

Not the solution is fair taxation every trade made in the country, if you make business in a country you need pay taxes there for the transactiona made there.

Otherwise you just extract value out of the country, without giving back.

To me there is no worse thievery than tax evasion, it's literally robing a nation.

The US continues to be a magnet for entrepreneurs around the world. We just increased the max amount for 0% tax rate for successful startup investments to $15 million in profit (lookup up QSBS expansion). Our pie is so incredibly large, and growing, that we can tax a small percent of income to provide a very large safety net.

This takes a long time to get - you have to sacrifice now to get the future growth

Why do so many people think that cutting social safety nets is a cheat code?

With the exception of certain pension benefits there isn't much money flowing into these programs to begin with.

If the state only paid for defense and the justice system, there would be very little reason to tax!

Just a fully militarised state, a la starship troupers.

> Why do so many people think that cutting social safety nets is a cheat code?

The people who don't (currently) need them see them as a waste.

Its so stupid.

There are loads of people not participating in the economy because they do t have money, just give them money to spend.

The multiplier effect means it pays for itself.

Doesn't apply to the super rich where the money is just hoarded.

This is an ignorant and totally misinformed take on how the economy functions. Giving people money will not create a sustainable economy

> The UK needs to radically reduce its social safety net and simultaneously cut taxes, at least for new companies and small businesses. The only way out is real, sustained, long term growth and innovation. Stealing ever more of a shrinking pie is already running out of steam.

I was under the impression they had done that already.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_government_aust...

Though one can't help but think it wont be radical enough for conservatives until we simply dispose of those unable to work through some dystopic mechanism or other.

This was a long time ago. Since then we've been running full speed in the opposite direction.

(from the linked Wikipedia article)

> Coalition and Conservative governments in office from 2010 to 2019 used the term, and it was applied again by many observers to describe Conservative Party policies from 2021 to 2024, during the cost of living crisis.

2024, last year, is "a long time ago"?

People use terms, they're often wrong. The last few years since 2019 we've been breaking ever greater records on state spending and borrowing, this is not austerity.

Oh wow I had no idea OnlyFans is from UK. Always thought it was US.

>The UK needs to radically reduce its social safety net and simultaneously cut taxes

Unfortunately that is not a popular opinion in the UK. They want to tax everything, taxing the rich is popular among voters which is why they are doing it. And again the consequence have long been known or told. They are doing it anyway.

Most of the street in London is empty. UK is either number 1 or number 2 in millionaires fleeing the country after China. Property pricing are falling somewhat not because of more supply but because those asset are being sold as part of those moving abroad.

> Most of the street in London is empty.

I live there and this is just wrong.

"Most" isn't an accurate description. But there are lots more vacancy in central London than it used to be.

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