In Thackery’s early 19th century satire, Vanity Fair, all of the characters are flawed in one way or another, but George Osborne is is without a doubt the most shallow, self-regarding and stupid of the lot. Fast forward a couple of hundred years to the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. The Chancellor of the Exchequer…
Here’s a nice short and easy to read article from Tom Streithorst on the economics of supply and demand that highlights the stupidity of austerity in the midst of a recession. It begins with a little homily on the inevitability of a universal basic income, which is always good to see.
A good article here from Jonathan Portes at The New Statesman about the effect of the UK government’s austerity programme on economic growth, which supports my contention that George Osborne is either an idiot or a liar.
George Osborne was on the telly today boasting that his strategy of austerity appeared to be working, the evidence being an unexpected rise in GDP in the second quarter of the year. He was wise enough to urge caution, aware that GDP is a slippery customer that can go down as easily as it goes…
Here’s a very clear, easy to read analysis of the utter failure of the UK government’s current economic policy. Demonstrating, by the way, that economists are perfectly capable of talking sense in language that we can understand (thanks Ann Pettifor and Jeremy Smith).
Reports that UK GDP rose by 0.6% in the last quarter means that news outlets are full of articles heralding the end of recession and the start of recovery for the UK economy. Unsurprisingly members of the government have been milking this good news and taking as much credit as they can for having steered…
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