Economics : The Social Science behind “Everything in moderation”

Dear All

Apologies for the length of these posts - just follow links for local news! My unique pun of a friedmanite tourniquet, which no-one gets, makes a brief appearance at the bottom of the page


From another Blog  - written by a world famous SOCIOLOGIST & POLITICS Student

Jason Beerjeraz, in Manchester, where Liam Glennon went to study Development Economics and Fr Tim set up a foodbank:

"I want to take a look at an issue some refer to as the ‘poverty cycle’, arguably faced by 13 million people in the UK alone. A cycle which once started is extremely difficult to escape. And with it I will focus on one of the many possible elements, transport.

In London we have our oyster cards with subsidised fares, we have train and bus routes running from early morning to early morning! We have the good old London underground and according to Boris Johnson we’ll have the Crossrail 2 by 2030. Fares can be less than £1 on some routes, result!

So, what exactly is the problem? Well, I needn’t look any further than my university window here in Manchester. Unemployment has risen greatly, in areas that already faced high levels of unemployment. Beneath the cheering that Manchester is London’s hot rival and the UK’s second city, you start to see a bleaker picture.

 Roughly 50% of the children living a 10 minute walk away from me are living in poverty.

 This is a fact (indirectly) shared with me by a previous member of staff at St Ignatius College, Fr Tim Byron, who helps runs the local food bank. What does poverty have to do with transport? Well, quite a lot actually! If nearly 50% of families are struggling to raise their children above the poverty line, struggling to afford necessities thus relying on schemes like food banks. How on earth are people expected to afford daily travel costs? I hear cries of ‘get a job’ or ‘what about welfare benefits?’ Adults looking for employment, on Job Seekers Allowance, are having to make choices between heating their homes and eating. Without sufficient transport infrastructure they face minimal geographical mobility. Without sufficient funds they cannot afford the high fares during those crucial weeks of job interviews and tests. Without employment opportunities in the local area, where are they to find employment? Only 36% of those on JSA have access to a car. 

They need public transport to be cheap, regular and to be well linked. Without it, job search activity can become hopeless. The job searching itself becomes their job, which still leaves them on the poverty line. It is crucial for public transport to be accessible and affordable. Without these conditions people are left in an endless search for opportunities that are beyond their grasp. There is a skilled and willing workforce out there looking for employment, but inadequate transport along with many other factors leave them in an endless cycle of poverty. So much for Manchester’s privatised bus system; the profit motive is doing a great job at raising efficiency and economic welfare. 

Why not privatise the NHS while we’re at it, oh wait…

 It is important to remember that inequality is not a ‘foreign’ issue, it is closer to home than you may think. If I can present a feasible case in the UK, just imagine what the case could look like when you make comparisons to many other cities across the world. To those of you easily persuaded by my opening praise of London transport, look no further than my meeting of a dad of two, when running a work club in Edmonton Green Library; he had just got a job, but could not afford to travel there for his first week of work and pay his rent and no longer qualified for JSA.

This piece is based on statistical facts and does only represent one interpretation. However, you have to question, in a world where the richest 1% of the population own 65 times that of 3.5 billion people in the world, where do we begin with the fight against inequality?"

News Articles:
1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19569942
2) http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/jobseekers-finances-and-prospects-crippled-by-transport-poverty-and-high-fuel-costs-8130080.html
3) http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2202040/Millions-people-risk-transport-poverty-cost-owning-car-rises.html

Useful Links:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/20/oxfam-85-richest-people-half-of-the-world

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/lockedout

http://www.trusselltrust.org/stats

http://www.transportworks.org/about-transport-works/tackling-inequality

The science behind “Everything in moderation” | maketheworldworkbetter:

Looks a lot like a supply curve to us economists

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