Our obession with the high street

Well with 2008 nearly over, what a year it's been. If your reading this and still have your job count yourself lucky. If your reading this and have managed to get through Christmas debt free, count your self even luckier, you must one of three out there.

This wonderful Government of ours thought that before Christmas it would entice the public with a 2.5% reduction in vat. This represents a whopping £2.50 in every £100 that you and I spend. I recently bought a shredder and got 30 pence knocked off the price. Whop pee I think I might save it and put it towards the inevitable tax rises that are inevitably coming our way should Labour win the General Election, when ever it is called in 2009.

What bothers me about the vat reduction is that it encouraged us to go and spend our way out of recession. excuse me, but hasn't spending money we haven't got put us into this financial headache in the first place. Too me the Government has put us onto a reckless course and we are all in for a very rocky ride in 2009 with the mother of all hang overs. Also I believe the Government reduced vat so it has an excuse to raise it an even higher level in a couple of years, my prediction is 18.5% or even a whopping 20%.

We need to end this addiction to the high street, even today I see queues forming to get into the supermarkets, as if they are all going to close for the rest of eternity. We need to get back to a time when we realise the important things in life, like spending time with your family on Boxing day and not rushing out to the sales. We need to stop being sucked in by advertising, once you but a digital camera, as soon as you walk out the shop door it becomes obsolete, only to be superceeded by a far better model that can do exactly the same job but will maybe do it quicker or quietier and will still set you back an extra £50.

Instead of relying on public spending the Government should be investing in manyfacturing, trainning young people into trades, we should be setting up for the future, exporting our best products, inventing world beating gadgets and ground breaking medicine. To allow the high street and the world of finance to drive our econmomy will once again only lead us to bust after a few years of boom. when will we ever learn our lesson.