Saturday 9 March 2013

9th March 2013

In the late fifties, in a previous age of austerity, a friend of my fathers won a hundred pounds.

I remember saying to my father that this was great thing to happen.

Yes, my father agreed, for me it would be great or for you if you were sensible, but for Fred it will be just four deposits.

Sure enough, when the items appeared and we were invited round to admire the new possessions, that is exactly what had happened, and, after the payments were not kept up, one day the bailiff appeared and the shiny new Radio, TV, Cooker and Fridge disappeared.

Of course later I did something similar, although I still have the goods I bought.

After winning a £100 on Premium Bonds I bought amongst other things a picture from an Art Gallery and a couple of other bits for the house.

Each time my eldest daughter asked about the new purchase I said aah, yes, we won a £100 on Ernie.

But, my daughter responded, you've spent it four times!

Out pf the mouths of babes?

Today I looked at my Bank Account.

There was less money in it than I expected there to be.

I expected to see a deposit of £6000, apparently this is the amount of money that the Bank of England has created through its policy of quantitative easing.

£6000 per person.

To say that I was disappointed was an understatement. But then equally I was not surprised.

But it would seem that if the Financial Times was right, because that's where I gathered this interesting fact from, then it would seem that no-one else has benefited from the £6000 either.

So Mr Cameron heads off to Keighley and announces that all sorts of external economic factors over which we have no control have conspired to hold back the UK economy and keep the flat line flatter.

There is he repeated, No Alternative to Austerity.

It would have been interesting to hear his answer had one of his audience asked for his £6000.

After all if I had been given an unexpected windfall, given my 'previous' I would have spent it, hopefully only once, but ....... who knows?

Politics appears is in a state of disrepair.

The latest comments by the Prime Minister, challenged by the head of the Office of Budget Responsibility, Robert Chote, suggest that there is a need to review and reconsider the current  policy of austerity.

In a global economy it is clear that events in other markets will impact on a countries ability to buy and sell its goods and services but it is so overwhelmingly clear that the policy of austerity being pursued by the con-dems is resulting in a continuing reduction in economic activity in the UK.

The big society has become a busted flush.

The newly minted money has had zero effect in stimulating economic recovery but my £6000 must have gone somewhere, been given to someone?

It's all to do with multipliers.

If I took my £6000 and spent it on eating out, a new garden shed, some new outfits and a new motorcycle.

Then the beneficiaries of my largess would in their turn go out and spend their share of the £6000, together with their own £6000, that would generate £14400 pounds of economic activity, multiply that a few times and the economy would start to become noticeably active again.

Some of the money would generate demand, some would generate investment, some would generate profits and be spent again and again.

Mr Osborne has an opportunity to review his economic strategy in March let's hope he decides to make a few deposits (by which of course I mean investments in UK plc) before the bailiffs turn up!

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