The Great European Rail Test
- Thread starter paolo
- Start date
Not on the scale of the 1930s, no, but the '70s represented a pretty long drawn-out recession, in the middle of which Sunny Jim officially ditched Keynes.
Not, of course, that a strongly Keynesian programme was ever implemented in the first place, or that some of what was done hasn't continued since then...
Not, of course, that a strongly Keynesian programme was ever implemented in the first place, or that some of what was done hasn't continued since then...
Gmart
Well-Known Member
That Keynesian economics has merely evolved and still has relevance. Thus leading to the possibility of the injection of funds into the Rail network as described.
After having spent the equivalent of the education budget on keeping a single bank afloat I am very reluctant these days to listen to politicians when they claim lack of funds. The replacement of Trident is another and their recent decision to support a new generation of Nuclear power.
After having spent the equivalent of the education budget on keeping a single bank afloat I am very reluctant these days to listen to politicians when they claim lack of funds. The replacement of Trident is another and their recent decision to support a new generation of Nuclear power.
Gmart
Well-Known Member
I have a theory that the more the Rich concentrate all the power into their hands, the more likely we are to have a prolonged downturn, leading to it being more likely. Still I take your point of course. I recently saw Keynes' General Theory in a list of the most dangerous books of all time!! Crazy!
co-op
But....but cLoWnFiSh....
Roadkill said:
TBF the conditions in the 70s were not your classic recession as described by the great man. For Keynes, a recession would have been definitionally deflationary (as in the 20s and 30s when wages and prices were both falling). What we had in the 70s was growing unemployment, falling output but increasing inflation (stagnation + inflation = "stagflation", remember that?). To some extent that was a theoretical weakness, or being-left-behind-by-events-ness in Keynesian theory that gave monetarism its little window of opportunity.
Anway. Ho hum. Nothing to do with train journeys to Berlin, inspiring thread though, me and the missus are off to Brussels by Eurostar in a couple of weeks but that's not quite the same as getting the sleeper from Brussels onwards...
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Give you a tenner to do it.
co-op
But....but cLoWnFiSh....
mattie said:
Oooh any good tips? We're there for a couple of days, I want to look at lots of Breughels and bore the girl stiff about how he is the first great socialist artists then get pissed on half a pint of fantastic tasting beer that I will drink too quickly. But that still leaves a few hours for other things.
mattie
missing in inaction
co-op said:
I've a memory like a sieve for this sort of thing. The grand place is, well, pretty grand, but the cafes opening on to it are a rip. I tried the beer museum on the Grand Place, rubbish. There's a little alley just round the back that has loads of little restaurants all selling mussels - this is quite popular, and some are very good indeed, just be careful, if it's not completely and entirely open do not touch. The Mannekin Pis is close by, but it pretty underwhelming.
I quite liked the atomium, it's out near Heysel stadium - rebuilt after the disaster in the European Cup. The atomium itself was being renovated when I was there but should be done by now.
Regarding museums, you're spoilt for choice - we went in a few, but spent most of the time strolling round. The modern art one may be what you're after.
We went to a pretty nice bar that was in a renovated old building which holds some art exhibitions. I can't recall the name, if I find it I'll PM you. The missus has a much better memory than me for this. I don't think you'll struggle to find a decent beer in Brussels though!
eta: There's also a flea market that the missus quite liked, she was going to buy an old photo album of pre-war family snapshots for some reason.
Definitely going London to Berlin (return) this autumn, but not 1st class, and not by sleeper. Definitely going to book ahead as far as poss (wish it was a bit more straightforward though). Him Indoors doesn't do early mornings, so I'm aiming to get an evening arrival instead.
From S London, it actually takes approx 2 hours less to get to Heathrow or Gatwick (let's leave Stanstead, Luton & City out of it), get yourself & bags checked in, get on the plane, get to the other airport, clear customs & immigration, retrieve luggage, get to city centre.....<deep breath>...than it takes to get on the train at St Pancras, clear passports & customs, change trains once or twice and arrive in central Berlin.
Your bags don't get lost, you don't have such long queues to wait in, and okay it's more expensive (even booking ahead), but IMHO there's no point in flying when the airports (at least around London) are bad enough to get your holiday off to a really bad start.
Your bags don't get lost, you don't have such long queues to wait in, and okay it's more expensive (even booking ahead), but IMHO there's no point in flying when the airports (at least around London) are bad enough to get your holiday off to a really bad start.
editor said:
Less of the M25 centricity - St Pancras (and the money spent on shifting Eurostar from one side of Lunnun to t'other side) is pointless to the vast majority of the Uk population who have to spend 2, 3, 4, 5 or even more hours just getting to its hallowed portals by rail....
