I have now read what Vince Cable had to say yesterday (I was in court when he spoke).
Polly Toynbee has written well on this issue in the Guardian this morning, and we did discuss it yesterday.
The key issue is a simple one. Vince Cable is talking the talk but the reality is he is not in any way funding the walk.
If any government is to get us out of recession them it needs to have one aim and that is full emplyment. That is possible. It can be funded. I have explained why at length on this blog. For example, £20 billion of funding for long term investment in the UK is possible by simply demanding that pension funds provide the money in exchange for the much greater tax relief that they enjoy.
And what is more - we know that this will work. Putting people to work cuts government spending and raises tax revenue - statement so obvious no one can deny it. In that case such spending actually pays.
Which means Vince Cable should not be funding growth out of the petty cash tin which is what he is announcing right now.
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How are you defining full employment? I mean, everyone? The sick, the lame, the dying, the single mums, everyone?
BB
Those willing and able to work
Some aren’t willing – like non working spouses
And some aren’t able of course – if only Tories realised
I’m sure they know it full well. They are clearly indifferent to their needs, however. The destruction of the welfare state and the NHS will lead to a bonanza for their insurance company sponsors. That’s one principle aim of what’s happening. The other aim seems to be creating a regular income stream from public funds for companies such as Atos, the French IT company called in to perform testing on the disabled to assess their eligibility for benefits, and the companies involved in Back to Work programmes, a risible enterprise in the current economic climate. I regard both as simply plundering the public purse. In my view criminal prosecution would be appropriate for both the busnessmen and politicians involved.
BB
Full employment has never been defined as zero unemployment. Employment creates wealth. Doing nothing doesn’t!
Vince Cable is odd. He appears to think that the automatic stabilisers are (old or new)Keynesian economics. He also seems to think that the Liberal presence in governemnt has driven down the borrowing rate. I wish we were Belgians. Equally, his claim that the government are stopping the rating agencies from downgrading UK governemnt debt is bizarre, given that the Coalition said they wanted to follow the Canadian model of debt reduction from the 1990s, and Canadian government debt was downgraded in 1994.