Big numbers - vast numbers - pension debt

Data just released from the ONS.

First thing first. What is a trillion? It is a thousand billion. What is a billion? It is a thousand million.

So let's write out in numbers what a trillion is £1,000,000,000,000.

At the end of 2010, the total accrued-to-date pension obligations of all UK pension providers were estimated at £7.1 trillion, nearly five times the UK’’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This was made up of £5.0 trillion of government obligations and £2.1 trillion of private sector obligations.

Of the £5.0 trillion pension obligations for which the UK government was responsible at end-2010, £3.8 trillion were in respect of state pensions.

In addition the obligations for pensions for those who work for the state was a tad short of £1.0 trillion. This is equivalent to 60% of UK GDP. Are we mad or are we mad are we crazy.

And can you believe it - state workers think they are hard done and want to strike for more.

It is clear to anybody with a GCSE in Economics that this can not continue. If the UK Government  had reduced the public sector pension obligations by 5% it would have made a significant reduction in the country's budget deficit. Moan over. Dick Stroud