Recession: A helpful glimpse into the past
Discussion
I'm reading a Clarkson book from 1999 at the moment, and this morning before work I read this particular extract. Sound familiar?
"As the 1980s drew to a close, Britain was gripped by a recession which would see car sales fall from 2.2 million to just over 1.5 million. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs. Factories closed. House prices plummeted. So did hemlines. It was all horrid. Throughout those dark and gloomy days, gurus told us that the glorious times of easy credit, greed and avarice were over and that in the 1990s we would all be busy gathering wood for pensioners and helping to set up community service projects. Cars would have catalytic converters and airbags. Films where everyone got shot would be replaced by films where women wandered around meadows in beekeeper hats, making daisy chains and falling in love with gallant and good men on eco-friendly white horses. It sounded like the worst nightmare I could possibly imagine and it all looked like coming true when, in Terminator 2, Arnie refused to kill anyone.
But thankfully, the British recession ended and those old values are back on line. Girls who had been forced into long and tedious skirts now insist on huge slits up to their ladies' areas, estate agents are selling houses in Chelsea for £25 million, the stock market is up in the ionosphere. Greed is good. And greed is back. Phew."
Made me laugh, reading that, simply because it's exactly what's happening now, but 20 years ago! It's ridiculous; all the doomsayers are telling us that we need to turn to Christ or Allah or Max Clifford for salvation. No we don't, we need to look to skirt shops to lead the way!
"As the 1980s drew to a close, Britain was gripped by a recession which would see car sales fall from 2.2 million to just over 1.5 million. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs. Factories closed. House prices plummeted. So did hemlines. It was all horrid. Throughout those dark and gloomy days, gurus told us that the glorious times of easy credit, greed and avarice were over and that in the 1990s we would all be busy gathering wood for pensioners and helping to set up community service projects. Cars would have catalytic converters and airbags. Films where everyone got shot would be replaced by films where women wandered around meadows in beekeeper hats, making daisy chains and falling in love with gallant and good men on eco-friendly white horses. It sounded like the worst nightmare I could possibly imagine and it all looked like coming true when, in Terminator 2, Arnie refused to kill anyone.
But thankfully, the British recession ended and those old values are back on line. Girls who had been forced into long and tedious skirts now insist on huge slits up to their ladies' areas, estate agents are selling houses in Chelsea for £25 million, the stock market is up in the ionosphere. Greed is good. And greed is back. Phew."
Made me laugh, reading that, simply because it's exactly what's happening now, but 20 years ago! It's ridiculous; all the doomsayers are telling us that we need to turn to Christ or Allah or Max Clifford for salvation. No we don't, we need to look to skirt shops to lead the way!
Saag Aloo said:
Steve748 said:
somebody go tell the scoolgirls that crossed the road when I stopped at the lights today, or maybe the warmer weather has shrunk their skirts into belts :rolleyeyes:
but I didn't ask the lights to stop me or ask them to cross the road in front of me 
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