Debt has become a convenient cover for ideological cuts
We must be watchful of a spinning of facts by this government to justify its policies. Nowhere has this been more apparent than when Cameron and co talk about government borrowing.
George Osborne
Osborne to miss deficit reduction target by at least two years, new figures suggest
Government borrowing will overshoot the chancellor’s target by £8bn this financial year, according to predictions published today by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Devolved governments unite to call for change in economic policy
The devolved administrations have united to call on the UK government to adopt Vince Cable’s call for much greater expenditure on infrastructure to boost growth.
Britain will be left behind if it doesn’t support the financial transaction tax
It’s time Britain joined the other major economies of Europe in introducing the Financial Transactions Tax to help pay down the deficit. The other option is to continue to cripple its poorest citizens.
British workers see biggest fall in wages among wealthiest countries
British workers have suffered the biggest fall in the value of their wages of any of the world’s wealthiest countries, according to a new study from the TUC.
George Osborne is on weak ground opposing sensible proposals on bank bonuses
Despite record fines for everything from mis-selling to Libor rate fixing and even money laundering, it has been another season of bumper bonuses. Yet against this backdrop our chancellor finds himself in Brussels arguing against a plan to rein in excessive bonuses.
George Osborne – driving the UK to frack and ruin
It was a curious day in the chancellor’s constituency yesterday, but also a very significant one. Greenpeace were there to bring home to George Osborne the realities of fracking.
QE must be accompanied by economic stimulus if it is ever to work
With evidence overwhelmingly pointing to the need for demand boosting measures to kick-start the economy, we need to ask City economists the same question that John Maynard Keynes asked when challenged about his change in economic policy to tackle the Great Depression in the 1930s:
“When my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do, sir?”
The government has less control over its finances than politicians pretend
Some have expressed bemusement at my claim in an earlier post that the only genuine deficit reduction policies are those which stimulate private sector investment and/or reduce their savings. I should expand.
Just three EU countries saw bigger drop in living standards than UK in past two years
Just three out of 27 EU countries saw bigger fall in living standards than the UK in past two years since George Osborne’s autumn 2010 spending review.