Economy & Banks

It hasn't happened in the last 2000 years but with modern tech we could have the next Silly Cone Valley on our hands. Or maybe they could go the Dubai route and build some fake islands in the shape of a pasty and a pint glass?

Pasties and pint glasses are too small to build islands in.

You might be right.

Bollocks. They need genuine encouragement. When land is given planning permission the owner should be given 1-4 years to build dependent on the size and the complexity of the scheme. At the end of the grace period the land should be taxed at 25% of value (assuming the tax dos not exist). This would ensure that anyone with developable land would develop ASAP or sell ASAp to someone who will.

This already exists. Development of a planning consent has to start within three years. The trouble is the definition of 'development' is so loose it's impossible to stop developers effectively land-banking a planning permission once it's granted a(having already increased the value of the land by gaining planning permission). Introducing a land value tax for land with certain use classes instead of a mansion tax for example could be a way of enforcing?

The problem with all these, very good, suggestions is that rich people and medium to large corporations will find a way to dodge them, often with the government turning a blind eye. See the UK tax system

This.

Losing pp when you know that you can get it again is an incentive to develop but not a big enough one.

Perhaps I should have expanded on my point. The definition of development is so loose that a developer can effectively cast a single foundation and that secures the planning permission in perpetuity because the development is deemed to have begun. So whilst it's possible for a planning permission to expire, any half-savy developer will circumvent it.

How about setting the limit on when the development must be complete by with penalties for non-completion?

*Not advocating this as a policy just interested in opinions.

I think in reality it would only be possible for developments of a certain size or number of residential units.

so the government gave the banks somewhere between 900mn and 1.7bn on the post office flotation

somethings don't change hey

I'm reading "Whoops! Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay". Probably 4 years too late but at least I understand how I come to be paying into Stephen fucking Hester's retirement fund.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24599345

JPMorgan fined $13bn

lol i guess the post office handout won't cover this !

do we see any of that cash or do the americans snaffle it all
i guess the 13bn could pay of some 0.000001% of the national debt ( percentage may well be massively out just put it in for impact ) but lets not let facts get in the way of a good story

13bn is less than what they pay in bonuses and the headline is "may pay"?

yeah i suppose the litigation hasn't started yet

lawyers >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Give it 6 months and JP Morgan will end up getting money off the taxpayers to pay the fine.

I think this fits here:

http://youtookthatwell.com/wp-content/uploads/Lemonade-e1382270992438.jpg?w=800

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24605864

america's debt

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-22/another-one-trillion-dollars-1000000000000-debt

the numbers are quite staggering

The U.S. national debt is now 37 times larger than it was 40 years ago, and we are on pace to accumulate more new debt under the 8 years of the Obama administration than we did under all of the other presidents in U.S. history combined.

The Chinese owners won't be happy...

They can build a cheaper, better copy though.

America+

it's ok they can create more money to pay the chinese back

Those printing presses will be running overtime.

Bitcoins, the NSA can manufacture them faster than anyone else if they turn their crypto-cracking quantum super-computer to work mining.

Problem solved.

They can't even keep Powerpoint slides about how they spy on the world out of the public eye. I wouldn't trust their crypto skills too much. They'll end up with Butcoins or something.

$butcoin

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