What's holding the British economy back? Debt, debt, and more debt

Maxed out

Last week the coalition government was hit with a combination punch of bad economic news. On the same day unemployment was upand the Bank of England’s growth forecasts were down.

Labour were quick to point the finger. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said “The British economic recovery was choked off well before the instability in the last few months in the eurozone...The government is cutting too far and too fast and it’s pushing borrowing and unemployment up at the same time”

To continue reading click here

From Miliband and Balls to Osborne: riding our luck in the bond market

Only the second most dangerous type of Bond there is

String theory posits the possibility of multiple universes exiting at the same time and in the same space. Economically we saw a little of that last week.

In London a few thousand students and professional protestors marched against the government’s plans to make them pay more towards their education.

To continue reading click here

No more Solyndras: time for the sun to go down on public spending

$535 million
Whenever I watch Dragon’s Den (Shark Tank to readers in the United States) and I see some entrepreneur waking away with £50,000 in his pocket I try and come up with my own ‘Dragon’s Den idea’.

I wonder how far I’d get if I turned up and said “I want $535 billion and I’ll go bust in two years”? I might not get too far with Duncan Bannatyne, but if I was pitching to Steven Chu, Barack Obama’s Energy Secretary, I might be in with a shot.

To continue reading click here

Beyond credit easing and council tax: How Osborne can sail us toward 'calmer, brighter seas'

Under pressure

The Labour conference last week was all about Ed Miliband but that didn’t really matter, few are listening to him.

The man currently front and centre of British politics spoke at the Conservative conference in Manchester yesterday, Chancellor George Osborne. His brief, the economy, dominates politics.

To continue reading click here

Things will only get worse for Labour until they discuss voters’ inflation concerns

Hands up if you're being screwed by inflation

AS LABOUR gathered in Liverpool for its party conference this week, one of their top priorities was to fashion a message on the dominant issue in British politics today: the economy. They failed.

FISCAL FAILURE

On the fiscal side, the shadow chancellor Ed Balls, unveiled an economic recovery package that seemed like it had been drawn up by a right-wing blogger taking the mick; it simply amounted to borrowing and spending more money. He refused to apologise for Labour’s borrowing – even when the economy was growing – to spend on its public sector client state. But considering that the beneficiaries of that largesse are Labour’s core vote and paymasters his hands are pretty much tied.

To continue reading click here

Ed Balls and Irish austerity: what you didn't hear at party conference

May the growth rise to meet you

Ed Balls used to cite Ireland as exhibit A in his argument that ‘austerity’ would cripple the British economy.

A year ago, when Ireland’s economy had just shrunk by 1.2% Balls, then making his unsuccessful run for Labour leader, said

“These figures are a stark warning to governments across Europe including our own. An austerity programme of deep cuts now, when our economic recovery is not secure, risks lower growth and higher unemployment”

To continue reading click here