CV can't watch right now but read the reviews... Here you go below. Sounds very interesting and I have seen this before I think.
I think you also know my response CV. UK is full of stuffy nosed toffs who haven't got a clue. My views pretty much same as these below showing the Victorians in their true light. Lots of good but also suffering and misery. It depends where you are on the food chain does it not?
Film maker Martin Durkin explains the full extent of the financial mess we are in: an estimated £4.8 trillion of national debt and counting. It's so big that even if every home in the UK was sold it wouldn't raise enough cash to pay it off.
Durkin argues that to put Britain back on track we need to radically rethink the role of the state, stop politicians spending money in our name and introduce, among other measures, flat taxes to make Britain's economy boom again.
This polemical film presented by Martin Durkin, brings economic theory to life and makes it hit home. It includes interviews with academics, economic experts, entrepreneurs, no less than four ex-Chancellors of the Exchequer and the biggest stack of £50 notes you'll never see.
What's your opinion? Have your say below, or discuss on Twitter using #Trillion.
m on 04 June 2011 at 18:27They wasted money making this. =]x
ReplyReportsusan foster on 22 May 2011 at 20:12
There are points made on this programme I can agree with BUT it is highly selective and overly simplistic. 1) It deliberately transposes private sector and manufacturing. The vast majority of the private sector in this country is service providing not manufacturing and "wealth creating". Many of the expensive public services that this programme goes on about are indeed provided by the private sector along with many of the worst public sector rip offs, (computers, pfi, ppp, managment consultant, liaison officers etc). 2) The complete romaticisation of the industrial revolution - read some Dickens. 3)The fact that much Britain's wealth was built on Negro slavery both by trading them or working them. Native workers were treated only marginally better. Given the conditions still endured by many that provide our goods today our economy still is based on slavery. 4)Hong Kong is a very selective example of a low tax economy, African and South American countries, China, Saudi are all less favourable to this programmes argument. Low tax economies usually also mean no workers rights,environmental protection. All very good for business. The advantage to business of low taxes in Hong Kong are dependent and directly related to higher tax rates in another. How many of the companies in Hong Kong are wealth creating manufacturers? Very few I would guess. Hong Kong is a gateway for the transporting of goods from other countries, re-exports, a Special Administrative Region for China (bureaucrats), and a hugh, massive international banking/finance centre (pushing money around). Wealth, like energy can neither be created or destroyed it can only be changed from one form to another - I have a product/service, you give me money for it. Money is moved around the globe from one person/country to another and if I have it - you don't.
ReplyReportMichael on 15 May 2011 at 05:35The one problem I have with the programme is it said there was more public sector workers than private workers (more wealth consumers than wealth creators), yet official figures say 6 million work for the public sector yet 23 million work for the private sector, therefore more work in the private sector - so surely this is incorrect information by the programme. If 23 million people work in the private sector why haven't they created wealth?
ReplyReportMichael on 15 May 2011 at 04:58
Hold on if the employers actually created jobs the mentally and physically disabled could do they wouldn't have to claim disability allowance unless they were seriously disabled. It seems to me the whole jobs market and employers attitudes are the things that really need changing, not attacking the poor. If the stopped the nonsense of multitasking (getting one person to do the job of five people) and actually shared the work load out more - we wouldn't end up with a totally exhausted population, who don't raise their kids properly and don't bother to look after their elderley relatives. Get rid of this utterly ridiculous jobs market and start creating more apprenticeships in all workplaces, job trials and easy access to work. Stop ridiculous taxing of the low paid and free peoples minds to create better work places, with more creativity and innovation so that we became free to come up with new ideas of products that we could actually make and sell instead of imported cheap rubbish!
ReplyReportMichael on 15 May 2011 at 04:50
Hold on 23m work in the private sector and only 6 million in the public sector - hardly much comparison. If the 23m had actually made some more money and produced things to sell we wouldn't be in any debt by now!
ReplyReportR Hood on 12 May 2011 at 00:32
After watching this program for the second time, and reading some of the posts here, I am feeling somewhat bamboozled by some of the ideas being aired. I also am confused by the figures suggesting that 7.5 million work in the public sector, and this is 50% plus of the UK workforce. That said, I understand that the size of the public sector is out of proportion for the economy to support. Surely if lowering taxation and expanding the private sector so much was the panacea for our financial ills then it will be done. But maybe there is more to our national and global economic problems. After all, not every country can export to the same level can it? So the same criteria can't be rolled out accross the planet, there would be too much stuff and not enough demand. It seems to me that a new kind of capitalism needs to be established. One with competition, and local co-operation. A capitalism that has the long term in its sights, and firm regulations for banking. We need a new story too, one that encourages a world wide co-operation, not us and them. We must develop our common humanity alongside our private enterprise.
ReplyReportEdward on 05 April 2011 at 23:17
I liked the program but have realised a problem to some figures it produced and wonder if anyone care to explain them to me. It say just above 50% of peoples now work in the public sector and gives a figure of about 7.5 million people but there are over 60 million people living in this country. So about 7.5 million in the public sector and 7.5 million in the private sector, about 2.5 million unemployed... thats 17.5 million people and ok there are children and pensioners but how could they make up the figure 45 million other people up? Anyone care to explain.
ReplyReportPeter L. Griffiths on 02 April 2011 at 17:24
During world wars 1 and 2, National debts soared without any lasting damage to the Economy. Notes in circulation are irredeemable and do not need to be repaid.The consequent increase of prices is more than likely to be offset by improvements in productivity such as the internet,which thankfully did not need any help from economists or politicians.
ReplyReportRick on 26 March 2011 at 14:56
Isn't this the guy who lied about climate change and by falsifying graphs and cherry picking data? Why should I waste my time watching something which is going to be obviously biased? I expect better from Channel 4.
ReplyReportReplies (1)Phillip on 07 April 2011 at 14:34
Maybe you have him confused with either of these two characters: July 15th, Greenpeace put out a press release saying the arctic ice caps would melt by 2030, a claim that Leipold now admits is false. Or possibly: Al Gore and the inconvenient truth.. The inaccuracies are: * The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government?s expert was forced to concede that this is not correct. * The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The Court found that the film was misleading: over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years. * The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government?s expert had to accept that it was ?not possible? to attribute one-off events to global warming. * The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims that this was caused by global warming. The Government?s expert had to accept that this was not the case. * The film claims that a study showed that polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out that Mr Gore had misread the study: in fact four polar bears drowned and this was because of a particularly violent storm. * The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream throwing Europe into an ice age: the Claimant?s evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility. * The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The Government could not find any evidence to support this claim. * The film suggests that sea levels could rise by 7m causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40cm over the next hundred years and that there is no such threat of massive migration. * The film claims that rising sea levels has caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The Government are unable to substantiate this and the Court observed that this appears to be a false claim.
Reportlj on 21 March 2011 at 20:25
I'd rather we radically rethought the role of finance, stop bankers spending money in our name and introduce, among other measures, robin hood taxes to make Britain's economy fair again.
ReplyReportReplies (1)loyal4life.org on 22 April 2011 at 13:19
Exactly, the Government can bail out the bankers and finance royal weddings, yet they cut the benefits of people who are unable to work. Its unbelievable
ReportNima on 27 February 2011 at 16:34So if this programme is so right why aren't there all night sittings in Parliment debating it and making changes to stop our country going down the drain? Most of the population seem in a constant state of 'lets hope it never happens' and feel powerless to change anything to the point they dont even try any more. I do agree we have so much talent in Britain which doesn't get the opportunity to flower and this is such a waste. If there are good reasons not to cut taxation I would love to hear someone explain why.
ReplyReportNathan on 27 February 2011 at 06:42
Please tell me where I can buy a DVD of this Trillion Pound Horror Story. I saw the whole thing you YouTube, but I've got lots of people I'd like to show it to, and I'd like it to be all in one piece and on my big tele.
ReplyReportReplies (1)Peter on 01 March 2011 at 14:06
Nathan - you can by a DVD from the programme makers for £9.99 - go to :-
http://www.wagtv.com/ I think that this programme crystallized everything which I've been thinking for many years - the best programme on TV for many years, in my opinion
ReportStuart on 10 February 2011 at 19:24
The worse health service in the devolped world? While they may be true apart from the US(which is ranked lower then the UK) every country in the west has a state run health service so I fail to see the reasoning their. Also I noticed that while not stated the "decline" of manufacturing was during the same period of the rise of workers rights. It can be more difficult to make profit when you're not allowed to exploit your workers. And his argument expaling the distabution of tax is slightly flawed. This is basically zero sum theory and can be exapanded to the entire world. And we do export things, maybe not as much as we like but it is not just products that can be exported i.e. our banking sector
ReplyReportJemW on 10 February 2011 at 19:14
"It's on the telly: it must be true!" If Martin Durkin wasn't such a disingenuous liar, his 'evidence' carefully selected - just like his climate change documentary - and his contributors carefully selected and vetted to make sure they stay on message, the subject might be interesting. He rounds up the usual suspects - the TPA, ASI and the IEA - who perform the "same ol' same ol'" to camera. Opinions masquerade as facts - without references; his assertions are often simply wrong - for example the true cost of the bank-bailout. Surely his research director (and member of the Taxpayers Alliance) matthew Sinclair could have found out the true costs. He paints the industrial revolution as a utopia for all - the model of tghe 'good society' when it patently wasn't for the vast majority regardless of age or sex. There is clearly a lot to celebrate about the Industrial Revolution in terms of industrial development and growth, and its long-term benefit but even here Durkin fails: in terms of national debt he quietly omits (or worse, doesn't know) that from 1750 and right through the height of the industrial revolution, government debt-to-GDP was always over 100%. In fact it rose to a peak of over 250% of GDP in 1825! It only fell below 100% in about 1860 - curiously the UK then experienced the start of what historians call The Long Depression. I wonder if these facts could be related? I will show it to my students - since even they get tired of youtube videos of kittens dancing on pianos and skateboarding dogs: it will give them something new to laugh at. One last question: will Martin Durkin have to apologise for this like he did for "Against Nature" in 1997?
ReplyReportJames M on 06 February 2011 at 15:30
Can someone let me know where the figures for regional size of the public sector come from - 77% for Wales sounds very high, and the ONS figs show it as about 65% in 2008/9. thanks
ReplyReportPeter on 03 February 2011 at 10:35
Why would Channel 4 make excellent programs like this an not make them available on 4OD. Get it out there Channel 4. Please!
ReplyReportReplies (1)C4 Community Producer on 03 February 2011 at 12:38
It is available on 4oD.
ReportNigel on 27 January 2011 at 00:40I'm no economist, and it is hard to argue against the point that taxes for low income earners should be reduced or scrapped but... The revisionist nonsense about the industrial revolution is disturbing. Life expectancy for a working class man was roughly 40 years, child labour was acceptable and resulted in massive injuries to children and the most abhorrent cruelties and abuses. People worked 16 hrs a day, 6 days a week, until that was reduced to a 12 hrs day, which is still a death sentence when doing manual work. The working classes lived in squalor. To see the narrator walking around a mining museum getting all excited about what a great time it was....utter rubbish. Miners were paid a pittance, right up to the strikes of the 1960's. The industrial revolution was not a rennaisance for the majority of British people, only the capitalists. Also doesn't the public sector include the military and its subsequent costs? And aren't the Adam Smith Institute the people who were behind Thatcher's so called revolution, the one that saw relative, and real poverty increase enormously, particularly child poverty. This is a whitewash programme made by neoliberals and will really only appeal to the really toady and selfish nature that lurks inside every true brit. It talks of the public sector and the private sector as if they were completely seperate entities with no overlap, as if people from one don't use the other, such simplistic arguments. As if the most economically depressed areas of Britain would simply flourish like a bird released, if only they would stop their benefits. What rubbish, people would starve. I don't have the answers, but I'm sure as hell that all the right wing nutters on this programme don't have them either. The welfare state grew out of a very real need to protect the working class from poverty, want and hunger. I would never trust a bunch of right wing economists to protect anyone except themselves. Take the ideas in this programme with a huge pinch of salt, this is just neoliberal propaganda. Just for the record... I don't work in the public sector and I'm not a socialist, they give me the creeps as well.
ReplyReportC.Elder on 21 January 2011 at 14:38
It is a great pity that Cameron;Osborne;and Clegg have not seen this and undertsood its message.The public sector must be rolled back to handle only a few functions like Defence and Justice. The education system needs to be reformed.Eliminate all these "fake" degrees in equally "fake" subjects(gender studies anyone?) and direct students to Maths; Physics; Chemistry;Biology;Engineering.Also direct others to the myriad of well paid jobs that can never be outsourced to China etc.For example, we need more painters; plasterers;plumbers;electricians;builders;nurses;dentists;doctors;technicians in a whole variety of areas etc and these are ALL local jobs.It is a disgrace that lazy Brits are choosing Welfare,while we "import" hundreds of thousands of work-eager non-Brits to do all these jobs.Stop Welfare for anyone who is not disabled or ill...and by ill,we mean a REAL illness. We also need a limit on how many members of the same family can work for the Govt at the same time!It is a disgrace that we see members of our Parliament(etc) whose spouse is also at the public trough;and even their sons and daughters! And we need term limits so that no one can serve more than 2 terms at any level of Govt.Make these people return to the real world and stop the practice of having people spend their entire working lives on the public payroll.What real jobs have Brown; Milliband; Clegg;etc had?
ReplyReportMike M on 18 January 2011 at 19:58
Fantastic programme. The best programme I have see in a long time. I teach and I want to show it to my students. Channel 4 must make this programme available on 4oD for anyone to view. Right now. No restrictions.
ReplyReportReplies (1)C4 Community Producer on 21 January 2011 at 11:32
It will be on 4oD on the 24th of January, so not long to wait...
ReportZach on 18 January 2011 at 04:08C4 Community Producer can you please air this again or put it on 4od. I recorded it on Sky but for some reason was interupted and, therefore have missed the last half an hour of it. I desperatley need to watch the end. I've found it extremley helpful in understanding the current economic problem but I really do need to see the rest of it, so I beg you to put it bcak on or on 4od.
ReplyReportstevew on 14 January 2011 at 22:10
Great news that this programme will be available again shortly on 4oD. In two days, discussion on this programme has stirred up a storm. Various economists have come forward to support and chair debates.....we need this on dvd to centre the debates. Curious that we can find no public sector figues who wish to debate the programme, either they claim not to have seen it or refrain from any invitations to do so. I wonder why!
ReplyReportJ90 on 13 January 2011 at 19:13
Yes, I most definitely agree with comment below. Can you make it available for viewing please.
ReplyReportReplies (1)C4 Community Producer on 21 January 2011 at 11:33
Yes, it returns on the 24th
Reportsbrown on 13 January 2011 at 11:58
Dear C4 community producer, We need this to be made available for another period. Some very important people I know need to see it . . I thought it was brilliant. Please repeat . . or tell me how to buy a copy.
