Disappointed but not surprised

So the "We're in this together" principle took another turn towards the rich and away form the poor with yesterday's budget announcements. This morning's paper were full of "Granny tax" headlines, presumably because Granddad isn't expected to live long enough anymore to qualify for a state pension!

I haven't read all the analysis, but the disappointment is clear to anyone who wonders why an extra £170 after inflation for the lowest earners equates in any way to the 5% reduction for very high earners. Anyone who is earning £153,000 will save that amount straightaway, and once again as you go up the higher income scale you win and just keep winning even if you have to pay more stamp duty.

So it seems that this budget is about putting more people into higher rate tax, cutting benefits and all in order to fuel the misconception that rich people are dis-incentivised by paying tax. The rest of us naturally find paying our taxes a real joy! I'm not sure what work is actually being rewarded by George Osborne's plans.

I'm equally disappointed this week in the attitude of the train drivers union over the Olympics. Rejecting an £850 bonus because there were "too many strings attached to the offer'" has all the hallmarks of greed. Is anyone else being paid a bonus for doing their job during the Olympics? Am I just being cynical or won't they be doing overtime too and getting rather well paid for that. It seems quite ridiculous that there are hundreds if not thousands of people giving up their time for free to make the Olympics a great event, and here we have an unmistakable grab for personal gain. I'm sorry but I can't see it any other way.

So, if it hadn't been for winning my tennis match on Monday, this might just have been the most disappointing week I've had for a long time! Every cloud has a silver lining as they say, and I did win a Premium Bond too, so life can't be all that bad.

Perhaps, when it all comes out in the wash, we will actually be grateful for the influence of the Lib Dems. Maybe without them this budget would have been far worse for most of us.

Who's paying the price?

So, directors pay at the top companies is up 50% in the last 12 months.

It does rather beg the question how does that reflect the present government's mantra that we are all in this together, sharing the burden of the financial woes, now doesn't it?

What price higher taxes?

I didn't watch the budget last week with any great interest. I know I'll be affected by some of the changes that were announced, but somehow I couldn't quite summon up the enthusiasm to listen to an over-optimistic chancellor describe an economic future designed to make his maths look better than it is.

Call me cynical, but I can't see things changing for quite some time.

What does bother me is the fixation there has been in certain parts of the media about the announcement to introduce a 50% tax rate for earnings over £150,000. My old college friend Simon Jones blogged about it last week here. His point is well made that there are far more people trying to survive on $1 a day (about 68p) than will be affected by the new tax rate. And remember, if it works like all the other tax rates, it will only be applied to earning above £150,000.

I have no reason to doubt Simon's maths, but when I did the calculations myself, deducting tax and National Insurance from £150,000 a year leaves £258 a day. Not a week, or a month, but a day. That surely sounds rich in any language by comparison to 68p. In fact, if your household income after tax is greater than £3000 a month then your household lives on £100 a day and if it's more than £2000, then you have one hundred times the financial resources of the poorest people on which to live every day. 

Perhaps as a first world nation we should take responsibility for what has happened and accept that it is going to cost us to sort things out and that we need a new model of equity in economics. 

Equity is not the same as equality. Everybody does not need to have the same, it just needs to be more equitably distributed. It simply cannot be right that the gap continues to rise between rich and poor.

I just wonder how we can get there.

Two events of interest

A couple of events came through my inbox this week. Both look quite interesting. The first is a workshop from CAP (Christians Against Poverty). Looking at the information this is an opportunity to both find out about and learn how to deliver a money management seminar.

You can get more information here.

With debt and "credit crunch" being the flavour of the month (albeit a rather unpleasant flavour), it might not be a bad time for churches to connect with their community using tools like these.

The second event is a Spring Harvest one-day conference to be held at King's College in January. The focus of the day is the issue of how we learn. The advertising says:

In the church we’re forever discussing ‘good teaching’ but when was the last time you heard a discussion about ‘good learning’?

Both look quite good, sadly I can't make the first but I may go to the second one.

Reflecting on the economic crisis

Can I point you towards the blog of an old college friend of mine, Simon Jones. In a previous life he was a financial journalist and has written a really good piece about the present crisis and some of the questions it raises.

Like Simon I wonder where the wise heads have gone. Perhaps they were laid-off in the last crisis. 

You can read Simon's piece here.

Perhaps, after all, I'll sign up to the Blog Action Day on Poverty.