GDP drop of 0.7% in the second quarter.
Discussion
What a wonderful system of government we have:
"George Osborne is a “work experience" Chancellor who should be moved in the forthcoming reshuffle to pull the economy out of recession, according to a former Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman.
Lord Oakeshott, who is close to Liberal Democrat Business secretary Vince Cable, said figures were “dismal” and the economy was in “cold storage”.
The peer suggested that Mr Cable should be appointed Chancellor in Prime Minister’s reshuffle, which is widely expected in September.
He said that Mr Osborne did not have enough experience outside Government to run the Treasury, insisting that the UK needed its “A-team at the Treasury”.
In withering criticism, Lord Oakeshott told BBC Radio Four’s World at One that Mr Osborne was “doing well as a chancellor on work experience”.
Asked if Mr Cable should be made chancellor, he replied: “Personally I would."
He continued: “I do think that George Osborne has no business experience, he has never worked outside politics and he is doing surprisingly well for a chancellor on work experience.
“Really, in a torrid time like this, we do need the absolutely best people available.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosb...
"George Osborne is a “work experience" Chancellor who should be moved in the forthcoming reshuffle to pull the economy out of recession, according to a former Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman.
Lord Oakeshott, who is close to Liberal Democrat Business secretary Vince Cable, said figures were “dismal” and the economy was in “cold storage”.
The peer suggested that Mr Cable should be appointed Chancellor in Prime Minister’s reshuffle, which is widely expected in September.
He said that Mr Osborne did not have enough experience outside Government to run the Treasury, insisting that the UK needed its “A-team at the Treasury”.
In withering criticism, Lord Oakeshott told BBC Radio Four’s World at One that Mr Osborne was “doing well as a chancellor on work experience”.
Asked if Mr Cable should be made chancellor, he replied: “Personally I would."
He continued: “I do think that George Osborne has no business experience, he has never worked outside politics and he is doing surprisingly well for a chancellor on work experience.
“Really, in a torrid time like this, we do need the absolutely best people available.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosb...
anonymous said:
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They'll never give it to Cable Tonker, but if you were to follow your logic there'd be no-one left fit to govern, hardly fair to single Vince out on that basis. On the other hand, he does at least have some qualifications, wasn't he a prof of economics at the LSE?Blue62 said:
They'll never give it to Cable Tonker, but if you were to follow your logic there'd be no-one left fit to govern, hardly fair to single Vince out on that basis. On the other hand, he does at least have some qualifications, wasn't he a prof of economics at the LSE?
I say Redwood is the best that the current bunch of Conservatives have to offer. Never happen, but I would rather have Spock at the treasury than Dr Doom (cable).ewenm said:
A couple of years after certain others stop blaming Thatcher for everything 
martin84 said:
I only ask because I think it's easy for people with jobs and money to sit here in times like this and preach about how people currently out of work should've saved for the last 15 years. The fact is if everybody put all their money under the mattress we'd have had no growth in those years either. The last thing the economy needs is for everybody to hoard every pound and not spend it.
Of course. Equally, spending every pound and then borrowing even more to spend isn't sensible or helpful to the economy either. There's plenty of middle ground where you spend some, most perhaps, but keep some back as a "rainy day fund" or to pay down deficits/debts. That would seem to be a sensible basis for prudent home, business and government economics.martin84 said:
The last thing the economy needs is for everybody to hoard every pound and not spend it.
I think you naively assume pepel themselves are solvent and not up to their eyeballs in HP/car leases, credit card debt and overdrafts. Even, or perhaps especially amongst the middle classes, there are plenty of Mcawbers in pecuniary difficulties.johnfm said:
DJRC said:
Be a cold day in hell before I let Vince Cable anywhere near the public purse strings.
Um, aren't you enjoying low tax and clean streets by a lovely lake and mountain?ewenm said:
Of course. Equally, spending every pound and then borrowing even more to spend isn't sensible or helpful to the economy either. There's plenty of middle ground where you spend some, most perhaps, but keep some back as a "rainy day fund" or to pay down deficits/debts. That would seem to be a sensible basis for prudent home, business and government economics.
Agreed. I think credit didn't just become too accessible but also became an income stream too many relied on for too many years. Things like above-target inflation, energy price increases, general living expenses rising led to more to depend on credit which is always a house of cards.In terms of Government spending, I have noted here before most of the deficit was racked up in the late days of the Brown Government. It stood at less than £40bn in 2007 and £175bn in 2010. There was a resurgence of Keynesian economics when the crisis hit with several stimulus packages which didn't work but even that doesn't tell the whole story. When tax receipts fell due to the recession, that put extra pressure on public finances with increases already pencilled in which led to borrowing more (at a higher interest rate) which snowballed quickly. I may be giving Brown too much credit for noting the relatively low deficit after his 11 budgets, the fact is economic growth was able to keep debt manageable throughout those years and paper over cracks. When that ran out it all came crashing down.
ewenm said:
martin84 said:
Out of interest when is 'all Labour's fault' going to stop being the default response to every piece of bad news happening on Osborne's watch?
A couple of years after certain others stop blaming Thatcher for everything martin84 said:
ewenm said:
Of course. Equally, spending every pound and then borrowing even more to spend isn't sensible or helpful to the economy either. There's plenty of middle ground where you spend some, most perhaps, but keep some back as a "rainy day fund" or to pay down deficits/debts. That would seem to be a sensible basis for prudent home, business and government economics.
Agreed. I think credit didn't just become too accessible but also became an income stream too many relied on for too many years. Things like above-target inflation, energy price increases, general living expenses rising led to more to depend on credit which is always a house of cards.In terms of Government spending, I have noted here before most of the deficit was racked up in the late days of the Brown Government. It stood at less than £40bn in 2007 and £175bn in 2010. There was a resurgence of Keynesian economics when the crisis hit with several stimulus packages which didn't work but even that doesn't tell the whole story. When tax receipts fell due to the recession, that put extra pressure on public finances with increases already pencilled in which led to borrowing more (at a higher interest rate) which snowballed quickly. I may be giving Brown too much credit for noting the relatively low deficit after his 11 budgets, the fact is economic growth was able to keep debt manageable throughout those years and paper over cracks. When that ran out it all came crashing down.
And relatively, there are actually very few people out of work given the state of the Recession/Depression. It was vastly vastly worse in previous instances. This Recession/Depression is more about the wiping out of much of the collective wealth of the country and its future wealth for a while ahead.
The Boy George hasnt actually done too badly, but he hasnt done especially well either. And I think Im still the only one on here that has been thrown out of a meeting for challenging him/asserting he was useless.
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