@jimbo: I actually was reading a bit about the welfare state in the wake of Thatcher's death, and some of the worst aspects of it seem to be more perceptual than actual as far as I can tell. The majority of the welfare budget is spent on pensioners rather than jobseekers, for instance, and only something like 0.7% of the entire welfare budget is thought to be spent fraudulently, whereas I'm sure if you asked someone on the street what the number was I wouldn't be surprised if the average answer was 20% or higher. There's a similar disconnect in the U.S. when people talk about welfare; the stereotype is of urban poor African-American families with a dozen kids living off the government, but most welfare money actually goes to rural white families. (Of course those figures will change based on what you classify as "welfare," I guess.)
Of course I'm not British, so I might be talking out of my butt. It's a weird political issue, but in the end I kind of think that the fraudulent welfare abusers are far less damaging to the economy (US or UK) than, say, the class of bankers that caused the last recession.
@deathpooky: Yep. People talk about offshoring a lot, but I have a feeling that even jobs like mine that require an in-house American presence are going to be increasingly shifted to contracting models to avoid stuff like company expenditures on health insurance and the like. When you have companies that are constantly fighting to boost quarterly profits, that's understandable, but it's not that great if you're not a vice president or stockbroker.
@xtrememuffinman: Enjoy it while it lasts!
@d8k: Good to be here!
@jasonr86: Yeah, it can definitely be abused, but I'm pretty sure that far and away the bulk of the people on it are just looking for a little help getting back on their feet. It works well for that, at least!
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