Rapid responses
House of cards
[Re:Why Britain’s housing market has escaped the disasters of the 1990s, Friday]
Although Ruth Lea’s article is interesting, I’m concerned that a similar housing disaster to that of 1990s has simply been postponed by our unnaturally low interest rates. The problem that Britain’s housing market faces is that a huge number of mortgages in London, the south east and the south west are interest-only. In addition, an estimated 1.6m of interest-only mortgages across the country have no repayment vehicle. The worry is that the government’s fear for the banks’ exposure may mean a reliance on inflation that will eat into the real value of our housing stock (and most peoples’ largest investment).
Tim Coach
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Future thinking
[Re:Technology and human ingenuity will rescue the economy, Friday]
There are many examples of the potential for technology to transform our lives and help build a sustainable recovery. But this relies on the assumption that the structure of our economy will allow new technology to make its impact. High taxes currently discourage hard work and radical thinking, our education system is failing to encourage the skills needed for people to recognise good innovation, and our compliance culture means that many businesses are too terrified of regulatory criticism to experiment with new ways of making money. There’s many reasons to be hopeful. But many why we should not.
Rebecca Greening
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TOP TWEETS
I suggest wind farms are paid for in taxes rather than increased energy bills. I don’t trust energy firms.
@Neil_in_Norfolk
On an ideological level, Leveson reaction is fascinating. It will show which Tories value liberty against the censors.
@RyanCPS
Both Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth say we need to get off “expensive gas”. And offshore wind farms are so cheap?
@PlanktonMath
It’s always Britain’s fault in the EU. But I suspect David Cameron is closer to Europe’s taxpayers than most other leaders.
@DanHannanMEP