Stages of Economic Growth (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a good article by Chris Giles and Robin Harding in the FT. Check it out!
via Austerity is hurting – but is it working? – FT.com.
Personally, I am of the opinion that the rate of austerity has been too severe in both Europe and the US. I strongly favor expansionary policies to stimulate economic growth. On the other hand, I still endorse prudent economic housekeeping.
What do you think?
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What Osborne and Cameron are doing is not working and will never work because the essential elements of export led growth, inward investment, tax reduction and enterprise are missing.
To just focus on cutting as they are doing is storing up trouble and civil unrest for the future, particularly when today’s school leavers, forced to stay on until age 18, discover that there are no new jobs and that for most of them the prospects of metamorphosing into David Beckham, an X-Factor winner, an internet millionaire, a National Lottery Winner or a rock star are very limited indeed.
David Cameron himself when recently in Africa, lamented the “unrealistic expectations” of British youngsters but through his misguided policies is creating a false impression that all will come “right on the night”.
Our craven metropolitan elite go along with this because the investment opportunities are being created overseas for them to enjoy and exploit while Germany controls Europe and this country goes to ruin.
Our best and brightest are emigrating, moving themselves offshore or if they are able to, bringing their retirement plans forward in sunnier more tax efficient locations.
The words and actions of Eric Schmidt the CEO of Google and the actions of Sir Richard Branson, Lord Sugar, Vodaphone, Apple, Amazon, Glaxo Smith Kline represent the “smart money advice” which is to make your money in a tax efficient way, invest it abroad and then hide whatever is left.
Some £32 trillion is held offshore and the former Chief Executive of HMRC Dave Hartnett who let Vodaphone off a £6 billion gbp tax bill and retired on an index-linked pension of £162,000 gbp a yea,r now does tax consultancy whereby he dreams up strategies for major corporates and the super rich on tax avoidance and running rings round HMRC.
As long as this money is held offshore and we carry on paying out £12 billion gbp a year in overseas aid and another £35 billion to the Celtic Fringe no amount of cutting on its own, will fix our problems.
Dealing with these matters, NHS reform, local authority transformation which has been “bottled” by the overly cautious Cameron and by the useless Eric Pickles would create the headroom for the private sector provided more competing banks are allowed to go head to head with the High Street Clearers.
We also need a national export bank like the one the Germans have and infrastructure bonds funded by Sovereign Wealth Funds to pay for airports,roads and high speed broadband to South Korean standards.