When will all those who think the economy is going well smell the coffee?

Posted on September 9 2021

The Guardian business newsletter is not good news for all those who think that the economy is going just fine:

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8 Responses

  1. Karl Greenall says:
    September 9 2021 at 1:09 pm

    I think we are in the period between the relative calm we have been through, and the impending storm when so much is going to hit us. The ducks of economic disaster are lining up!
    Of equal interest is an article today by Larry Elliott, in which he tells us that the Tories are now the “Tax-and-Spend” party:
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/08/keir-starmer-tories-tax-hike-labour-austerity-low-taxes

    He does, however, near the end, make a somewhat badly informed comment about MMT, when he tells us:
    “Labour does not believe in modern monetary theory (MMT), the idea that a government can spend as much as it wants, inflation permitting, provided it can print the money in its own currency. (Corbyn briefly flirted with MMT but soon went off the idea.)”
    His comment is simply a parody of a much more comprehensive and nuanced position.

    No wonder there are problems galore coming down the line when mainstream “progressive” commentators appear so out of tune with the thinking out there.
    It almost nullifies his telling observations on Labour’s equally out-of-touch position.

  2. Pilgrim Slight Return says:
    September 9 2021 at 2:05 pm

    Maybe it already has smelled the coffee, and that is why they continue to pretend it is otherwise?

    That is the only rational explanation I can think of.

  3. Bill Kruse says:
    September 9 2021 at 6:28 pm

    Interestingly, remember the article “Tax and Spend is Dead”? on Huffpost? It’s been removed in the last week or so. It used to be here
    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/lee-carnihan/tax-and-spend_b_17452090.html
    I’m not sure what to make of its removal other than it’s a shame as it was a useful reference.

  4. Paul Fletcher-tomenius says:
    September 10 2021 at 9:21 am

    I read this on BBC news today in an article on the latest economic news.

    Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the figures showed the recovery was “well under way”. But Labour’s Bridget Phillipson, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said “Conservative complacency” was “holding our country back”.

    Sunak clearly read something very different to the rest of humanity, but politicians stating that the sun is out while sponging raindrops from the windows is pretty standard fare. Far more disturbing is the crystal clarity of the Opposition response. You may well think the incisive statement lacks precision, but you are wrong. It may be translated with spine chilling lucidity as follows:

    We will win the next election by default, because the morons that vote will be so p****d off with Johnson they will have no choice but us. That means we don’t actually need a policy on anything, which is fortunate for us, because Keir has told us till he’s blue in the face, “Policies are too risky, because they always upset someone and we need our powder dry.”

    The UK does not have an Opposition at the present time and that is very, very bad for democracy.