Originally Posted by Paul Markham

I have a few ideas. With the lack of ideas coming from politicians, can we make a bigger mess?

Add yours.

1. Smash online piracy for profit. The items pirated are usually created in The West. A lot of the money flows out to other places. The key is in the funding and that is controlled by the US and a few other developed nations. Leave it to kids wasting time on Usenet.

Stop supporting lost causes. Like Greece, Portugal and any other country that can't compete and pay it's way. They lived beyond their earnings and worth for too long. Germany can't support them for ever, they will have to stand on their own two feet some time. Let them go in a planned departure from the Euro.

Start producing better cars rather than better tanks. After WW2 Germany and Japan were banned from having an arms industry. So they developed other industries selling to consumers. Building more high tech arms at the expense of more high tech cars, isn't good for the economy. You can include all arms in this.

The First World takes a dose of reality. It's 2012 not 1912. The Third World wants what we have. We have no given right to it and they know it. Industries will migrate to places that can produce goods cheaper. No matter how marvellous one country makes the designs, a lot of the profits are lost if it's made in Thailand. Tax imports, to boost economies and innovation in the First World. The cheap labour of the Third world costs the First World jobs. Which it didn't until the second half of the 20th century.

This includes the workers. You have no rights to a job that pays $20 an hour if someone in China will do it for $2 an hour.

Rather than just shooting these down. Improve on the thread by coming up with yours.