15-02-12, 08:15 AM
my basic mesage is there is no easy answer, but the burden of the spending cuts needs to be balanced across the economy. And it needs to be part of a package to revive the economy. Paradoxically I believe we do need to reduce welfare costs, but borrow to stimulate the economy. Any worker idle on benefit is a waste to the nation. Our welfare state does encourage single mums to have more kids, immigrants get full benefit package while domestic workers can get almost nothing, the list is quite long ...there is just too much wrong with how benefits are assessed ,and lack incentives for return to work. But for any return to work to happen, we do need jobs for people to go to.
The severe housing shortage should be addressed by a national building programme. This would directly stimulate the construction sector and have demand knock ons for the whole economy.If we had plenty of cheap affordable housing , private landlords wont have a noose on rental levels...
George osbourne is sitting in his ivory tower just like norman lamont did...and both are doomed to failure.
Personally I dont think brown was " worst chancellor" ..if you review his achievements over the first 2 labour governments it was very upbeat. His issue was trusting Blair who basically sold him down the river, gave him the poisoned chalice...and I still believe darlings method of deficcit reduction would have been more effective and fair than this present government. Trouble is he was discredited by the bankling crisis, which in reality was not something I believe anyone could have controlled at the time. My biggest fear , like VNA is because demand management is discredited in the populaces eyes...osbournes methods willbe perceived as the only way out. Yes we absolutely have to reduce the deficcit , but in an imaginative and positive way, which the tories just cant or wont do.
The severe housing shortage should be addressed by a national building programme. This would directly stimulate the construction sector and have demand knock ons for the whole economy.If we had plenty of cheap affordable housing , private landlords wont have a noose on rental levels...
George osbourne is sitting in his ivory tower just like norman lamont did...and both are doomed to failure.
Personally I dont think brown was " worst chancellor" ..if you review his achievements over the first 2 labour governments it was very upbeat. His issue was trusting Blair who basically sold him down the river, gave him the poisoned chalice...and I still believe darlings method of deficcit reduction would have been more effective and fair than this present government. Trouble is he was discredited by the bankling crisis, which in reality was not something I believe anyone could have controlled at the time. My biggest fear , like VNA is because demand management is discredited in the populaces eyes...osbournes methods willbe perceived as the only way out. Yes we absolutely have to reduce the deficcit , but in an imaginative and positive way, which the tories just cant or wont do.