The problem we have is that, just as this country has developed its systems and mindset over many years, the problems that have developed will also take years to sort. Unfortunately, people tend to demand a quick fix to things, when it's impossible. Not only do changes have to be phased in, but it will also take a long time to change peoples' mindsets.

Take smoking as an example. 25 years ago, people smoked in front of kids, in public places and it wasn't deemed a massive problem. It's only a prolonged campaign, and gradual withdrawal of advertising that has got us to where we are now. And it will take another 25 years to get to the 'ideal' stage.

So of course, the first problem is that a government gets five years. It's not enough. The smoking issue is one that both major parties agree on, so it's implementation has worked and both parties have persevered with it. Sadly that can't be the way with everything, where fundamental disagreements fuel an attitude (to some) of digging your heels in when the party you don't like suggests something.

Dally's idea of having a maximum sized branch chain of 25 is, on the surface unrealistic. But it's not quite as ridiculous as it sounds. Most large brands in the USA (and we know they're far from perfect, so lets not get into that) are franchised, rather than corporate owned. So whilst you get a big nationwide brand, when you walk into an outlet, you're in many cases dealing with that shop's owner or people directly employed by that person.

The concept of 'master franchising' - having chains within a chain is quite common - most Subway outlets in the UK, for instance, are either owned individually, or part of a chain of between 10 and 20 outlets. The letting agent, Belvoir, is going the same way. Why can't high street chains or even your large supermarkets operate in a similar way? There will be area managers up and down the country who would jump at the chance to be a part of things like that, and if one franchise fails, at least it doesn't put the other parts of the 'chain' at risk.

I often wonder if, say, HMV operated that way it might not have failed en masse, as you will get the individual entrepreneurs at the head of each part coming up with different ideas that they wouldn't be prevented from implementing (plus implementation will come at a lower cost, because they have fewer outlets, and can then be adopted as official policy by head office, to be rolled out amongst everyone else). Secondly, every outlet wouldn't have been in deficit, so at least the profitable ones would have remained. As it was, the entire group was put under strain by the weakest performers, which killed the entire business.

On another note, I don't think removing benefits or adding more tax will do much to encourage or discourage certain types of behaviour. Only education will do that over a long period of time. You have to start with the kids, so that they grow up with attitudes that are alien to most of their parents. Easier said than done, I accept.

I don't think that it's a good idea to tax everyone to death. The only way the economy will grow is when there is money available to be spent in it, and it follows that the more money that goes to the government, is money that cannot be spent in shops or online.

This is by no means everything, but why not start here...?

- Stamp Duty. Currently paid ONLY by the buyer, and only on purchases more than £125k. This has killed the £125-£150k market, and also the £250-£300k market where it jumps to 3%. My view is that all buyers and all sellers should pay stamp duty at 0.5% of transaction value, no matter that the price. It's an affordable level, that way, and everyone pays something.

- Tax. Get rid of tax codes, and introduce a very simple sliding scale. If you earn X, you pay X. The onus should also be on the employee to make payment, not the employer. It cannot in this day and age be too difficult to compel employers to calculate wages online, which sends relevant info to HMRC, who then take the employee's tax by direct debit FROM the employee a set amount of time afterwards. Again, this is as much about instilling responsibility in the general public, and making people take responsibility for their own affairs.

- National Insurance. As above, however the employer should still make their contribution as they do now. A concession should be offered, in that a rebate should be available to the employer if they take on an apprentice, or young staff member who receives some kind of formal training.

There's loads I could go into, but I'll let you shoot the above down first

Indeed, German businesses have only recently started accepting credit cards.


Actually, we haven't, not all of it.
Stats are bandied about showing how the manufacturing workforce in the UK has declined dramatically ... but these stats don't usually take into account the fact that, in the old days, a canteen worker in a factory was counted as working in manufacturing but nowadays that function is most likely contracted-out ... ditto for security, IT services, cleaning, back-office functions etc etc., thereby making the stats look even far worse than they otherwise would be.
But your point does still stand, our manufacturing output has declined more than Germany's.
If Germany can retain its manufacturing, why can't we?
There is a general and erroneous notion here that all German industry is in the high-end, high-profit areas but, whilst they do make a lot of higher-end goods, they also make pencils and everyday commodities.

To me, the biggest differences are ...
1. The way in which German management and workforce in manufacturing collaborate rather than conflict, enabling the workforce to feel a sort of ownership and pride in the product and in doing a good job.
2. The German view is usually in the longer term (saving to get the cash to build their own home, for example) and this is reflected in German banks taking a longer term view of their loans to business, again seeing it as a collaboration. Where a British bank will pull the plug and forclose on a business at the first sign of anything negative, a German bank is more likely to turn up and offer to help to sort the problem out.

Nail, head. my bank in germany hypovereinsbank, only gave me a cash card when i first opened my account.. for 4 months, the deal is they want to see if im careful with money. imagine that in Uk. secondly the bank manager rings me up when im at work and asks me how im doing, is there anything she can do to make my service better, i said could i use my new debitcard in england, as at christmas it was blocked ( perhaps not the bank but the card is a maestro not as commonly used) she said no problem. while i try to bumble in my 8 months of german, ha. the other thing that makes me laugh is they have a mark on equipment that says in english, 'made in germany' apparently its abit of a one up on america and england for inferior quality products, yet i still find old tools made in england, my collegues say the new stuff is crap, which is true, im a plumber i know the diffenence. but the old stuff was made to last. What happened? my boss at the moment is just one of thousands in the Munich area that buys land in the countryside and builds a bloody great big house, with whiste and bells and would need a direct nuclear strike to level it. El Barbudo you are correct that building a house provides investment in the future it does. People here in Germany ( apart form typical quick money men/women) are in for the long run. A draw back from this is i think a massive depression problem, i wish i had shares in vallium. twice last week was my U-bahn stopped bacause of suicide, perhaps that is a Munich thing because on the land its pretty cheery and relaxed while Munich is much like london, Apart from prowling gangs, fear for one life by going down the wrong street etc. I am proud of my country, to be a miner's lad and always will be and i feel like like my country is falling through my hands like sand at the moment, why cant we be at the forefront again, punching above our weight in education and technology . We had the smartest minds in the world at one time or another. where is our modern day Brunel or Dirac? Think Graphene, think Skylon engines, think fusion. we have these technologies in Britain, and my cynical side is who's the highest bidder going to be. We cant think short we have to think for our children's children . Sorry for the rant. im now going to have a Franzikaner.

As an aside, I just found out that my local Tesco carries this. Good times.

I must stop posting ideas on here, Blanchflower has taken this idea and run with it in this week's New Statesman.
He makes the point that it would allow the underemployed to increase their hours and earnings.

A wonderful beer! Enjoy!