Archives for: UK debt

George Osborne was to have been a new kind of chancellor for a new kind of Britain. Instead of being an economy hooked on financial services and trading, we were going to be an economy under the stern command of business investment and export markets. Instead of government profligacy, we were going to see government […]

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Ed Miliband has a point. When this country toppled into crisis in 2007-08, it was widely feared that the financial collapse would lead to mass unemployment on a scale that dwarfed the recession of the early 1980s. And it hasn’t happened, or not quite. Yes, unemployment is really bad. Yes, the statistics are manipulated. And […]

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UK Chancellor Builds Economic Policy On a Ponzi Property Scheme

by Mitch Feierstein about 10 years 6 months ago

At the last election, during a TV debate between the three putative chancellors (Messrs Darling, Osborne and Cable), Krishna Guru-Murthy, asked, ‘Do you agree that cuts we are going to be facing will be deeper than the cuts that Mrs. Thatcher had to put through Britain?’ Alastair Darling answered, ‘Well, … they’re going to have […]

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Accountable: A letter in the Sunday Times called for Osborne to begin spending cuts a year earlier than planned In February 2010, twenty economists published a letter in the Sunday Times calling on George Osborne to begin spending cuts a year earlier than planned. The key sentence of that letter stated that, ‘In order to be credible, […]

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Hogging the headlines: In recent years, financial news has dominated the front pages – most recently the scandal at Barclays You know, there would have been a time when a financial contributor for the Daily Mail was restricted to the little stuff. Share tips, muttering about monetary policy, that sort of thing. Not any more. […]

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Spending our way out of debt with borrowed money is not the solution

by Mitch Feierstein about 11 years 9 months ago

The United Kingdom has too much debt. Reports normally focus on government debt: currently around 80% of national income, unless you take into account (as you should) the debts of the bailed-out banks and their toxic portfolios, which would pretty much double that figure. But what about consumer debt? Mortgage debt? Business debt? The huge […]

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Debt Up, Production Down, Recovery Gone

by Mitch Feierstein about 11 years 10 months ago

Let’s not be too hard on George Osborne. He came into office with what was arguably a more difficult bundle of challenges than any incoming Chancellor had ever faced. Facing a challenge: George Osborne Flaky banks, a hideous deficit, soaring debts, public services that had become hooked on ladlefuls of new cash, and an economy […]

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A Bet For Sir Merv the Swerv

by Mitch Feierstein about 12 years 1 month ago

  ‘Inflation falls.’ That’s the headline countless British consumers have been longing to see. And inflation isn’t just falling: the Bank of England predicts that prices rises will be down as low as 1.7% some time later this year. If that’s true, it’ll be a blessed relief for countless consumers. Personally, though, I’m just about […]

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The Court of the Sun King

by Mitch Feierstein about 12 years 2 months ago

Must be nice being Swervyn Mervyn. Nice to be so secure in your job that you can reject any idea of checks and balances on your all-but-supreme power. Nice that ex-Chancellors of the Exchequer view you as some Sun King beyond any check. Nice to have a £400,000 salary and plenty of time to enjoy […]

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