On his blog, Daniel Hannan preempted the pre-Budget report with a recipe for economic disaster. He urges the UK to adopt Ireland's catastrophic policy.
The gift that keeps on giving, is at it again. On his Telegraph blog, Daniel Hannan preempted the pre-Budget report with a recipe for economic disaster. Repeating his post in full he says:
“If you were overdrawn and in negative equity, with debts on a dozen credit cards and unpaid bills littering the table, what would you do? Would you try to spend less, or would you set out to spend more?
“Ireland is trying to spend less, with cuts across the board. Everyone will share the pain, from cabinet ministers to benefits claimants. The Taoiseach, who is expected to take a 20 per cent salary reduction, reckons that the new budget will reduce Ireland’s deficit by 4 billion euros.
“The United Kingdom, by contrast, wants to spend more. Alistair Darling will continue to expand the budget, and will raise taxes accordingly.
“I have been disobliging about Biffo Cowen in the past, but the fellow is at least trying to do the right thing, acting in the national interest, even if that means dropping in the polls. Labour, by contrast, would rather bankrupt Britain than alienate its remaining supporters in the public sector. Who are the patriots here? Who the rogues?”
The facts:
– Irish unemployment is 12.5 per cent
– the country is experiencing deflation at -6.6 per cent deflation
– GDP has fallen 7.4 per cent over the past year (and GNP by 11.6 per cent).
– And despite the cuts they have still had their credit rating downgraded.
Don’t forget the Chancellor’s line that, “The choices are between going for growth or putting the recovery at risk.” Well said, Darling.
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27 Responses to “Is Daniel Hannan insane?”
Credit rating and the power of capital « Though Cowards Flinch
[…] is less fortunate. So is Ireland. These economies, and the people who depend on them are small and insignficant enough to be […]
chefdave
“Labour not only *reduced* debt as a proportion of GDP”
Yes but Tom, comparing debt to GDP is a waste of time as gov’t makes up the GDP figures themselves. They’ve also hidden tonnes of debt of balance sheet using PFI not to mention the pension liabilities and bank debts.
Danniel Hannan is quite correct, you cannot borrow your way out of debt and you can’t spend your way out of a recession. Gov’t needs to cut spending massively to give private enterprise room to grow.
Tanya @ debt consolidation advice
I think pulling everyone together and stopping spending is the best way to ride it out and prevent any after shocks, which is not what the UK is doing, which is to practically kill any savings consumers have and get them into more debt.
Irish budget cuts praised by British Tories but criticised at home | Left Foot Forward
[…] measures were praised by Tory bloggers and politicians and gave a taste of what a future Tory budget might look like. George Osborne has long been a […]
Richard Blogger
Is Daniel Hannan insane?
Yes.