Osborne can take it on the chin, but which one?
George Osborne is the Chancellor of the UK. The man who holds the country's purse strings and decides who will live in wealth, with a modest income or abject poverty. Whilst this may sound simplistic it is a fact. The policies he heralds in will determine how many people in the UK live.
For sure George seems to be doing quite well, at least as far as his own prosperity goes. As he addressed an audience in Glasgow Tuesday, about Scottish independence and their future currency, his pudgey face seemed that bit fuller. It is as if almost every day the man exhibits the signs of living off the fat of the land and on the backs of others.
He may be doing quite well as far as his own standard of living goes but it is fair to say that he is creating a complete mess of the British economy.
Since 2012 the IMF, international monetary fund, has been advising Mr Osborne to change his tactics and move away from tough austerity measures. Measures that in truth are crippling the British economy and causing pain to the most vulnerable in British society. As austerity is not working toward helping the economy the conclusion is that Osborne and his political buddies have their own reasons for inflicting financial pain.
Even German Chancellor Mrs Angela Merkel, a frugal Frau if there ever was one, advised Osborne to rein austerity measures in. Last week the IMF advised him once more to introduce a "plan B" but all to no avail as we know the Chancellor will not listen. Perhaps there is no plan B which is a scary thought?
The original idea for his famous, or should that be infamous, ‘Austerity’ measures came from the work of two Americans named Carman Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. By now they have earned their nickname, the “godfathers of austerity”. So the seeds of his idea were not planted and grown in Number 11 Downing Street, the Chancellors official residence, as the idea is just another unfavourable and unwanted American import.
The pair, Reinhart and Rogoff, claimed economic growth slows if debt is allowed to hit 90 per cent GDP, which is the measure of what a country can earn in a year. Now it has emerged that they made a grave technical error on their spreadsheet. Whoops. Rival academics have proved their sums were wrong.
This is all very well because we are all human beings and even experts can make mistakes. Where the root of the blame lies is with Mr Osborne who accepted their predictions without double and treble checking them? Surely he must have enough experts around him to be able to discover such an error? An error which took the country down into a triple recession. More than likely a fourth will follow, plus another down grading of the pound to boot. What all of this has done to the people is unforgivable.
Shadow Treasury minister, Labour, Chris Leslie said: “When even the IMF is telling the Chancellor he needs a Plan B he needs to wake up.”
In the view of many people it is high time he changed course and tactics. The problem with the Chancellor, as well as the Prime Minister and quite a number of the government ,is that they are so convinced they are a great government, full of arrogance, that they will never back down and admit they are wrong.
Ministers now have one eye on the next general election. Already they are busy putting together another range of promises to create their political manifesto. This manifesto will be broken no doubt be broken, just like the last time, unless they are all lies in the first place?
Well, the Chancellor is under more pressure than ever now, not only from his own public but from Europe also. Will he listen now and change to Plan B, as he must have now realised that the two Americans got it all wrong? Many ministers were pointing out that Mr Osborne was on the wrong path some time ago and have been calling for his resignation since 2011. However, Mr Cameron always stands up for his friends, even if they are totally wrong. This is not a very healthy outlook, especially in politics. He did the same with Dr Fox, Mr Coulson and Mr Mitchell until he was forced to act.
In the meantime Britain crumbles and people suffer needlessly.
Related reading:
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14102945-uk-credit-rating-downgradetime-to-sack-chancellor-osborne
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14062778-uk-pm-camerons-desperate-trade-delegation-to-india
UK Treasury queries Scottish independence currency pact
For sure George seems to be doing quite well, at least as far as his own prosperity goes. As he addressed an audience in Glasgow Tuesday, about Scottish independence and their future currency, his pudgey face seemed that bit fuller. It is as if almost every day the man exhibits the signs of living off the fat of the land and on the backs of others.
He may be doing quite well as far as his own standard of living goes but it is fair to say that he is creating a complete mess of the British economy.
Since 2012 the IMF, international monetary fund, has been advising Mr Osborne to change his tactics and move away from tough austerity measures. Measures that in truth are crippling the British economy and causing pain to the most vulnerable in British society. As austerity is not working toward helping the economy the conclusion is that Osborne and his political buddies have their own reasons for inflicting financial pain.
Even German Chancellor Mrs Angela Merkel, a frugal Frau if there ever was one, advised Osborne to rein austerity measures in. Last week the IMF advised him once more to introduce a "plan B" but all to no avail as we know the Chancellor will not listen. Perhaps there is no plan B which is a scary thought?
The original idea for his famous, or should that be infamous, ‘Austerity’ measures came from the work of two Americans named Carman Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. By now they have earned their nickname, the “godfathers of austerity”. So the seeds of his idea were not planted and grown in Number 11 Downing Street, the Chancellors official residence, as the idea is just another unfavourable and unwanted American import.
The pair, Reinhart and Rogoff, claimed economic growth slows if debt is allowed to hit 90 per cent GDP, which is the measure of what a country can earn in a year. Now it has emerged that they made a grave technical error on their spreadsheet. Whoops. Rival academics have proved their sums were wrong.
This is all very well because we are all human beings and even experts can make mistakes. Where the root of the blame lies is with Mr Osborne who accepted their predictions without double and treble checking them? Surely he must have enough experts around him to be able to discover such an error? An error which took the country down into a triple recession. More than likely a fourth will follow, plus another down grading of the pound to boot. What all of this has done to the people is unforgivable.
Shadow Treasury minister, Labour, Chris Leslie said: “When even the IMF is telling the Chancellor he needs a Plan B he needs to wake up.”
In the view of many people it is high time he changed course and tactics. The problem with the Chancellor, as well as the Prime Minister and quite a number of the government ,is that they are so convinced they are a great government, full of arrogance, that they will never back down and admit they are wrong.
Ministers now have one eye on the next general election. Already they are busy putting together another range of promises to create their political manifesto. This manifesto will be broken no doubt be broken, just like the last time, unless they are all lies in the first place?
Well, the Chancellor is under more pressure than ever now, not only from his own public but from Europe also. Will he listen now and change to Plan B, as he must have now realised that the two Americans got it all wrong? Many ministers were pointing out that Mr Osborne was on the wrong path some time ago and have been calling for his resignation since 2011. However, Mr Cameron always stands up for his friends, even if they are totally wrong. This is not a very healthy outlook, especially in politics. He did the same with Dr Fox, Mr Coulson and Mr Mitchell until he was forced to act.
In the meantime Britain crumbles and people suffer needlessly.
Related reading:
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14102945-uk-credit-rating-downgradetime-to-sack-chancellor-osborne
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14062778-uk-pm-camerons-desperate-trade-delegation-to-india
UK Treasury queries Scottish independence currency pact
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