T
The Byre
- Original Poster
- #1
Fifty years ago this year, Bertram Mills Circus closed and all the props and paraphernalia of what was often referred to as 'the Rolls-Royce of circuses' were sold off. Sad footage of Coco the Clown looking on in full costume, as the coach of the Fairy Princess and other pieces of circus history were dragged away for auction, was shown on television.
It was the beginning of the end for circuses in Britain, the land where 200 years earlier, Phillip Astley began a combined riding school and show. A year later in 1768, Astley invented the 42-foot ring and in 1770 he added jugglers, acrobats and clowns to fill in between his riding acts and the circus was born. The concept spread like wildfire throughout the World and Astley was able to create 18 other permanent circuses throughout Europe, in much the same way that British musicals and TV shows today are franchised across the World.
63 years ago, Ernest Hemingway wrote the programme notes for Ringling, Barnum & Bailey, describing the circus as "an ageless delight" and marvelled at how the artists made the impossible seem so naturally easy. "It's wonderfully effortless in your dreams!"
This year, 'The Greatest Show on Earth' closed, as Ringling, Barnum & Bailey went out of business. After 147 years on the road, the properties had to be sold off. Just as sad, the Togni family from Italy were forced to close their giant, three-ring 'Circus Americano' which began life as a rather impoverished one-wagon show in 1880. Small inventive UK shows, like Zippo's Circus are just able to survive, but the big shows of yesteryear have been defeated by escalating costs and falling audiences.
Well, almost - there is one country where the large prestige circus with all the traditional elements of the circus is very much alive and well. Germany.
And Germany is the one country on Planet Earth where you would expect circuses to fail first. Costs are sky-high and the dead hand of bureaucracy leaves non-Germans speechless. Cyril Mills, son of Bertram Mills, once took their circus to Germany and discovered to his horror that every aspect of running a circus is so strictly controlled, that he wrote "Everything in Germany seems to be forbidden, unless expressly allowed!"
Every town visited will send out a state veterinary inspector to check on the well being and living conditions of every animal. Every tent and structure must be signed off each and every time it is erected, by the local building inspector. Every electrical installation must be signed off by a master electrician. Every performance must be attended by the local fire brigade. There are rules, inspections, regulations and standards for every aspect of running a circus.
And big shows like Circus Roncalli and the famous Circus Krone wouldn't have it any other way! Firstly it keeps out all the riff-raff of tatty, small shows that get the circus a bad name and secondly, it stops foreign competitors with lower overheads from quickly doing a few well-paid shows in the larger cities and thereby spoiling the market. Faced with a couple of hundred-thousand Euros of additional costs, they stay away!
I was reminded of the counter-intuitive fact, that German-style rules and regulations for every aspect of life, can be good for businesses, when I heard some vapid politician tell us that a falling pound was good for the economy.
That is the "It stands to reason!" school of economics much loved by someone trying to think well-past beer-o'clock and unable to grasp more complex concepts. Unfortunately, politicians on all sides seem unable to get past "It stands to reason!" and look at the facts.
For those exporters who are inefficient and unproductive, a falling pound must be like manna from the heavens. Rather than be driven from the market, these businesses that hand-pack goods, providing minimum wage jobs and their owners with slim margins, are being given a shot in the arm. It helps to preserve the unproductive jobs and companies we should be trying to purge from the market and pushes up the cost of imports.
On the 10th of August, The Times carried the headline "Pound's weakness boosts demand for British goods!"
Just one day later, it ran the headline "Weak pound fails to boost trade."
So which one is it? Well, the Department for International Trade announced that UK exports have risen 11% as a result of the fall in the pound. Unfortunately, this came as a result of a 15% fall. So both headlines were correct, but also, it shows how very inelastic imports and exports can be. Just because the pound has fallen, does not mean that we can import food or anything else from outside the EU with ease.
That concept also presupposes that there is such a thing as a 'British' product or a 'French' or 'German' product. Cars, for example, are built, using parts and sub-assemblies from all over the EU and beyond. The raw cast for the crankshaft for a Mini, starts life in Northern France. It is then shipped to BMW's milling plant in Warwickshire and from there, travels to Munich to become part of the engine, which is then shipped to the UK to be put into the car. The cable tree comes from the Bosch plant in Roumania, using cable made by Alcatel in France and Pirelli in Berlin.
The decline of Sterling has so far not proven to be the magic 'Get out of jail free' card that some politicians hoped it would be. By raising import prices, a weaker pound is pushing up inflation and therefore reducing standards of living.
But in the past, a fall in the pound was just peachy for those companies seeking a foothold in the EU and Britain had the advantage of an English speaking population. With our place within the EU gone, that stream of outside money will have to diminish and it was that steady flow of money that helped to fund the UK's balance of payments deficit.
As much as we would like to export our way out of trouble, experience past and present, tells us that Sterling's steady decline will be associated with higher inflation, at least for a while. This will effectively lower incomes and lead to a consequent decline in demand. Yes, our balance of payments will balance out - they must! But not through exports, but through lower imports caused by lower living standards.
An export lead boom? "It's wonderfully effortless in your dreams!"
It was the beginning of the end for circuses in Britain, the land where 200 years earlier, Phillip Astley began a combined riding school and show. A year later in 1768, Astley invented the 42-foot ring and in 1770 he added jugglers, acrobats and clowns to fill in between his riding acts and the circus was born. The concept spread like wildfire throughout the World and Astley was able to create 18 other permanent circuses throughout Europe, in much the same way that British musicals and TV shows today are franchised across the World.
63 years ago, Ernest Hemingway wrote the programme notes for Ringling, Barnum & Bailey, describing the circus as "an ageless delight" and marvelled at how the artists made the impossible seem so naturally easy. "It's wonderfully effortless in your dreams!"
This year, 'The Greatest Show on Earth' closed, as Ringling, Barnum & Bailey went out of business. After 147 years on the road, the properties had to be sold off. Just as sad, the Togni family from Italy were forced to close their giant, three-ring 'Circus Americano' which began life as a rather impoverished one-wagon show in 1880. Small inventive UK shows, like Zippo's Circus are just able to survive, but the big shows of yesteryear have been defeated by escalating costs and falling audiences.
Well, almost - there is one country where the large prestige circus with all the traditional elements of the circus is very much alive and well. Germany.
And Germany is the one country on Planet Earth where you would expect circuses to fail first. Costs are sky-high and the dead hand of bureaucracy leaves non-Germans speechless. Cyril Mills, son of Bertram Mills, once took their circus to Germany and discovered to his horror that every aspect of running a circus is so strictly controlled, that he wrote "Everything in Germany seems to be forbidden, unless expressly allowed!"
Every town visited will send out a state veterinary inspector to check on the well being and living conditions of every animal. Every tent and structure must be signed off each and every time it is erected, by the local building inspector. Every electrical installation must be signed off by a master electrician. Every performance must be attended by the local fire brigade. There are rules, inspections, regulations and standards for every aspect of running a circus.
And big shows like Circus Roncalli and the famous Circus Krone wouldn't have it any other way! Firstly it keeps out all the riff-raff of tatty, small shows that get the circus a bad name and secondly, it stops foreign competitors with lower overheads from quickly doing a few well-paid shows in the larger cities and thereby spoiling the market. Faced with a couple of hundred-thousand Euros of additional costs, they stay away!
I was reminded of the counter-intuitive fact, that German-style rules and regulations for every aspect of life, can be good for businesses, when I heard some vapid politician tell us that a falling pound was good for the economy.
That is the "It stands to reason!" school of economics much loved by someone trying to think well-past beer-o'clock and unable to grasp more complex concepts. Unfortunately, politicians on all sides seem unable to get past "It stands to reason!" and look at the facts.
For those exporters who are inefficient and unproductive, a falling pound must be like manna from the heavens. Rather than be driven from the market, these businesses that hand-pack goods, providing minimum wage jobs and their owners with slim margins, are being given a shot in the arm. It helps to preserve the unproductive jobs and companies we should be trying to purge from the market and pushes up the cost of imports.
On the 10th of August, The Times carried the headline "Pound's weakness boosts demand for British goods!"
Just one day later, it ran the headline "Weak pound fails to boost trade."
So which one is it? Well, the Department for International Trade announced that UK exports have risen 11% as a result of the fall in the pound. Unfortunately, this came as a result of a 15% fall. So both headlines were correct, but also, it shows how very inelastic imports and exports can be. Just because the pound has fallen, does not mean that we can import food or anything else from outside the EU with ease.
That concept also presupposes that there is such a thing as a 'British' product or a 'French' or 'German' product. Cars, for example, are built, using parts and sub-assemblies from all over the EU and beyond. The raw cast for the crankshaft for a Mini, starts life in Northern France. It is then shipped to BMW's milling plant in Warwickshire and from there, travels to Munich to become part of the engine, which is then shipped to the UK to be put into the car. The cable tree comes from the Bosch plant in Roumania, using cable made by Alcatel in France and Pirelli in Berlin.
The decline of Sterling has so far not proven to be the magic 'Get out of jail free' card that some politicians hoped it would be. By raising import prices, a weaker pound is pushing up inflation and therefore reducing standards of living.
But in the past, a fall in the pound was just peachy for those companies seeking a foothold in the EU and Britain had the advantage of an English speaking population. With our place within the EU gone, that stream of outside money will have to diminish and it was that steady flow of money that helped to fund the UK's balance of payments deficit.
As much as we would like to export our way out of trouble, experience past and present, tells us that Sterling's steady decline will be associated with higher inflation, at least for a while. This will effectively lower incomes and lead to a consequent decline in demand. Yes, our balance of payments will balance out - they must! But not through exports, but through lower imports caused by lower living standards.
An export lead boom? "It's wonderfully effortless in your dreams!"
