Quote:
Originally Posted by heero_yuy
Less worse than it would otherwise have been. See Greece.
Remember that the other lot were to make the same magnitude of cuts over the 5 year period, just the yearly profile was to be different. Whether that would have made any difference is really academic.
|
Wait a second, are you seriously equating the UK, public sector debt around the 60% mark pre-crisis along with all the rest of the economic differences with Greece whose PSND was nearly 100% higher?
You've been swallowing the Conservative line that we'd be doomed and in the same position as Greece. Austerity has been minimal in the UK, tax rises have formed the majority of the deficit reduction and even then the reduction is pretty modest. No-one denies the need for cuts, what the coalition have done is a complete disaster all around.
The only reason we have AAA is the Bank of England creating and spending £325 billion on government debt. The Tories and Lib Dems are basically lying when they claim the government's interest rates reflect confidence. The only reason our government's interest rates aren't as high as Spain's, which they should be given they have lower debt and run a lower deficit than us, is that the BoE can buy government debt and have been buying it by the billion.
---------- Post added at 18:57 ---------- Previous post was at 18:53 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derek
Not a Greece situation. Maybe a Spain or Italy one though with no sign of improvement in sight.
|
Without the £325 billion of QE we would be in a Spain situation. Their economy is by many metrics healthier than ours.
---------- Post added at 19:04 ---------- Previous post was at 18:57 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by heero_yuy
Assuming that just because the current strategy is not producing masses of growth in an environment where the (western) world economy is bumping along the bottom, that there is somehow a magical plan B that puts the UK to rights is just wishful thinking IMO. |
The government can either pay out on welfare or pay out employing people on infrastructure projects, such as housing, and enjoying the benefits of the infrastructure spend, in the case of housing it becoming cheaper and people having more money to spend in the shops and invest.
It's a balancing act, this government has shackled growth through tax rises and shackled it again through cutting investment.
---------- Post added at 19:05 ---------- Previous post was at 19:04 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Osem
I think you've just summed up Balls' 'strategy' without realising it.. 
Watched Andrew Neil giving David Willetts a very hard time re the economy at lunchtime. Of course the obligatory Labour attendee happily joined in the attack until Neil turned on her and repeatedly exposed her total unwillingness/inability to explain what her party would do. I think that just about sums up the opposition's credibility when it comes to 'Plan B'. All I ever hear from them is their plans for spending the proceeds of a bankers tax - cash they seem to have 'spent' more than once... |
I entirely agree that Labour are abysmal, however what relevance does this have to how badly the coalition are handling the economy?
They're the ones in charge, what Labour would do isn't actually the issue as they won't be in power until 2015, and it seems extremely likely that they will be in power in 2015. That we have the worst opposition in memory doesn't excuse the government being completely crap.
---------- Post added at 19:06 ---------- Previous post was at 19:05 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
I have no doubt that putting the two Eds in Downing Street right now would make things horribly, horribly worse.
|
How?
No growth, no jobs, real incomes squeezed, taxes increased, I don't see a hell of a lot of room for things to be further degraded.
---------- Post added at 19:11 ---------- Previous post was at 19:06 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by heero_yuy
It was their hallmark: Re-anouncing expenditure. But I have yet to hear any properly costed alternative other than the mantra "Cutting too far, too fast". In these diet conscious days a "lite" policy.  |
Going by the constant adjustments to the expected deficit the current plan isn't sticking to costings either. It's already worse than the original Darling plan which Osborne and co so derided.