To no great surprise, David Cameron has announced an immediate audit of the ‘crazy’ spending of Labour’s last years in power. Politically, this no doubt makes great sense – “look what those idiots got up to” is perfect scene-setting for the blood-letting that will follow. But what worries me is what sort of a narrative [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Debt’
11 May
Game changing Bazooka or the biggest dose of Moral Hazard ever?
Believe it or not, I have been reading up on the Greek/European/World scenario as a way of taking my mind off fingernail-destroying horsetrading over here in Westminster. Yes, those perfidious Europeans used the cover of a protracted UK negotiation over AV Plus to sneak out a 750bn Euro guarantee fund. Several points are worth making, [...]
5 May
Is there a more unbalanced analysis of Britain’s debt problems than this?
Niall Ferguson is forever determined to be ignorant about differences between countries. Amazing for a global historian of such repute. UPDATE (had to write that in a rush). What distinctions might he consider if he was not the sort of thinker who just thinks screaming DEBT!!!! is an argument? One, as Richard notes below, the [...]
29 Apr
Ignoring the Hippopotamus next door …
Well, if our own deficit is the Elephant in the Room, what is a nearby E300bn economy heading to bankruptcy? Will future post-election commentators wonder what on earth the Guardian was doing running so many different columns on bigotgate while the next economic crisis burst upon our shores? (to be fair to the Guardian, they [...]
11 Apr
If I were much, much brighter I would write posts like these …
James Hamilton has somehow worked out how much the higher oil prices of recent months might affect the US economy. You can’t be purely mechanistic about it – the hit to disposable incomes caused by having to send $$$s abroad – but also look at consumer shifts, caused by asymetric reactions to oil price changes. [...]
30 Mar
Things balance out – sometimes
or is that somehow? Everyone read Chris Dillow’s post about the GDP figures. As ever, he teases out an aspect unlikely to have been covered by the meedja. This is that the Corporate Surplus has hit a record. The point I want to zero in on is this: The counterpart to the corporate sector’s massive [...]
27 Feb
Down with Debt! proclaims straight-talking George
In today’s Times, George Osborne promises to be straight with us, unlike that ‘phoney’ Blair. At last, a politican that is going to be honest – someone should have thought of that earlier. Bet Labour are kicking themselves (and Vince Cable is hoping to sue). Osborne’s most important statement follows. “We will turn an economy [...]
23 Feb
The Long View: Radio Fame
I was among the guests on The Long View, which debated the past and present of the national debt. Here, I think, is the recording. If that link doesn’t work, then this is the homepage of the programme. You can guess my views: calm down about the deficit hysteria, dears. I think Will Hutton and [...]
22 Feb
Is the letter writing a fuss about nothing?
There is far less disagreement than meets the eye on fiscal options.
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