This Budget kills recovery at birth - David Blanchflower

Bullfighter

LauraW10 wrote: »

It is a really good article.

I suppose many posters have a closed mind and only want to read material that supports their view point.

They have Blind Faith for sure.

You could argue that the article is well written, however it is based on an incorrect assumption that government spending will kick-start consumer spending and create jobs.

Take a look at the US. They are following Blanchflower's plan to the letter.

Guess what?

If it wasn't for the fact that the USD is the reserve currency of the world, and that their huge military is operational in almost every theatre, they would have been forced to default by now.

The UK stands no chance.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Bullfighter wrote: »

The UK stands no chance.

Not a good time for culling & a forced prolonged [STRIKE]recession[/STRIKE] depression then.

Bullfighter

LauraW10 wrote: »

Have you even read the article?

The point is that crashing the economy means that we will have less money to pay back what we owe so the deficit will actually be higher under the Coalition.

Why is that so hard to understand?

That's insane.

Think about the premise. If you look at the US, who are the Keynesian poster child they are only able to service their debt by devaluing their currency.



It's back to pre-TARP levels.

Sure, they are able to pay creditors with freshly printed dollar bills, but what do you think will happen to imports? Fuel & food prices?

What do you think will happen to their interest rates when the creditors decide that getting paid in green toilet paper isn't good enough?

This is a much bigger problem than the spend and pretend brigade would have you believe.

Bullfighter

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

Not a good time for culling & a forced prolonged [STRIKE]recession[/STRIKE] depression then.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Bullfighter wrote: »

You aren't into all that consenting suffocation stuff are you? :eek:

ash28

Well oddly enough Blanchflower was a lone voice in the MPC when from October 2007 all through 2008 he voted - and I think only he - voted for interest rate cuts - warning of what was to come.

“It was extremely uncomfortable to be in a minority of one for a very long time. The worst bit was in the middle of August last year, feeling completely alone. I was a lone voice, and maybe a lost voice, maybe a lost cause. That was the worst part.”

For Mr Blanchflower this was the crunch point. His frustration grew that he was unable to convince colleagues that prospects were deteriorating fast, and that the supposed threat of rampant inflation was illusory. His sense of isolation and the futility of dissent was reinforced when the Bank unveiled August quarterly forecasts that he felt were hopelessly rose-tinted.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article6374879.ece

If you read any of his articles from 2007 and 2008 - he was right and if you look at the MPC minutes he was the only one calling for rate cuts in view of a deteriorating economy - the trouble is those who got it wrong are still in the MPC.

The New Statesman article is from June - and if I remember rightly the gov't have said that if the economy is adversely impacted the proposed cuts will be spread over a longer period - so perhaps "Slasher" has been listening.

angrypirate

Hmm, Labour activist quotes Labour economist in saying Tory policy is wrong.....need i say more?

tomterm8

angrypirate wrote: »

Hmm, Labour activist quotes Labour economist in saying Tory policy is wrong.....need i say more?

Blanchflower isn't a labour party economist... he is an economist who studies employment.

angrypirate

tomterm8 wrote: »

Blanchflower isn't a labour party economist... he is an economist who studies employment.

Sorry, you are right, but let me put it this way.

He writes for the Mirror and the Guardian, and was appointed to the MPC by Brown. I am sure he has no political leaning at all.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

angrypirate wrote: »

Sorry, you are right, but let me put it this way.

He writes for the Mirror and the Guardian, and was appointed to the MPC by Brown. I am sure he has no political leaning at all.

But he did call it right in 2008.