tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post7137366908194556639..comments2024-03-28T04:29:22.717+00:00Comments on mainly macro: Sound bite economicsMainly Macrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984575852247982901noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-49412787496575966702013-09-25T17:16:40.228+00:002013-09-25T17:16:40.228+00:00"even the Financial Times parrots Osborne'..."even the Financial Times parrots Osborne's sound bites"<br /><br />yes they do, depressing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-90496859880139649772013-09-25T15:34:08.467+00:002013-09-25T15:34:08.467+00:00In reply to Simon's comments but also those be...In reply to Simon's comments but also those below; I share your views entirely.<br /><br />Two thoughts have already occurred to me in the past few weeks prior to this discussion:<br /><br />1. The BBC now seems to take on the political hue of the party in power. I used to believe that it was the voice of New Labour in the Blair/Brown years. And now I hear the same harsh accents of Cameron and Co. in the voices of Peston, Robinson and so on. I really find I no longer trust the impartiality of the BBC. Nor does it seem to be a voice of balance and reason. The same goes for the FT.<br /><br />There are few places in the media where an impartial and considered alternative view is made. Most discussion is dogmatic and emotional. What a shame!<br /><br />However, it is certain that if the BBC disappeared, things would be far worse and UK media would certainly be in Fox territory. <br /><br />I agree that the culture to sustain a public broadcaster has been eroded, most notably by the creeping crassness and coarseness in the media and, in some ways, in every day life. Thus there is already a huge market for the GOP view of the world in this country. You can see it already in Sky and other Murdoch outlets such as The Times.<br /><br />No surprise then that, bombarded by all the above, most people have swallowed the Austerity propaganda.<br /><br />2. On Simon's point about Osborne's approach, as a mere layman I had been wondering whether, in fact, he knows perfectly well that Austerity is a sham but cannot disown it publicly for fear of undermining Coalition credibility. <br /><br />Better to ease up imperceptibly and in effect reflate, he calculates, particularly in areas guaranteed to instil greater optimism such as the housing market with a view to 2015.<br /><br />Mark Carney's new Fed-style approach of linking interest rate decisions mainly to the rate of unemployment appears to have injected a note of humanity hitherto entirely lacking.<br /><br />This explicitly makes people and jobs the priority, something that sits at odds with the Coalition policy: Think IDS. <br /><br />Osborne, to my knowledge, has not savaged this most un-Tory of attitudes.<br /><br />Perhaps Carney and he had some discussions on how to manoeuvre into a co-ordinated position to roll back Austerity. Pure supposition of course.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-30562815722596445782013-09-25T15:30:53.851+00:002013-09-25T15:30:53.851+00:00Michael Burke
The OBR has noted but not fully qua...Michael Burke<br /><br />The OBR has noted but not fully quantified the effect that fiscal easing has had on the recent very modest growth rate.<br /><br />In fact, turning to the National Accounts data, it can be seen that it is an increase in real government consumption from Q1 2012 onwards which more than accounts for the uplift in real GDP over the same period.<br /><br />http://socialisteconomicbulletin.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/did-austerity-lead-to-recovery-no-it.html<br /><br />Therefore, far from austerity leading to recovery, it is a (wholly unsustainable) version of Plan B which has lifted the economy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-48733224485765623382013-09-25T14:36:31.413+00:002013-09-25T14:36:31.413+00:00I would like to call attention to the following cl...I would like to call attention to the following clause of the Chancellor's speech - the venerable triad of explanations the Coalition has trotted out for their having presided over stagnation.<br /><br />"Instead, the composition and timing of the slowdown in GDP growth relative to forecast is better explained by external inflation shocks, the eurozone crisis and the ongoing impact of the financial crisis on financial conditions."<br /><br />Remarkable to me has been the consistent failure of not only opposition politicians but also the commentariat at large to point out and reflexively howl with laughter at the obvious irony of excuse #2. It wasn't Coalition austerity wot laid the economy low (that was expansionary?); it was that of the perfidious Europeans! Awesome! schtevienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-85815009596689771172013-09-25T13:28:11.006+00:002013-09-25T13:28:11.006+00:00The BBC was created to reflect a market failure, n...The BBC was created to reflect a market failure, namely that flows of information coming from press barons was likely to be one-sided. This last five years has made me question and I think now reach the conclusion that the UK does not have the sort of culture necessary to sustain a public service broadcaster. <br /><br />Would the UK be the sort place that would revert to a Fox News type output if broadcasting were left to the marketplace? That seems to be the only reason for keeping the BBC in the age of the internet. <br /><br />It is a real shame, as the idea of a state broadcaster is sound in practice, but has been ruined. Just think of all the economic graphs that could have been put up on high-definition TV screens to tell a thousand words, but we are instead left with Osborne's verbiage. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-65714387917536501912013-09-25T11:49:41.398+00:002013-09-25T11:49:41.398+00:00I think you have to ask where people get their inf...I think you have to ask where people get their information from. When even the Financial Times parrots Osborne's sound bites, how are people to know they are wrong?Mainly Macrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09984575852247982901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-27539300912035352002013-09-25T11:45:32.562+00:002013-09-25T11:45:32.562+00:00Why is expansive fiscal policy helpful in pulling ...Why is expansive fiscal policy helpful in pulling out of a recesion? Is it the expansion of money entering the economy?lxdr1f7http://cmamonetary.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-8169349305651482312013-09-25T11:25:36.555+00:002013-09-25T11:25:36.555+00:00Simon,
Thank you for this. When I heard Osborne c...Simon,<br /><br />Thank you for this. When I heard Osborne crowing about this economic miracle earlier this month, I was pretty perturbed (Can the man not see the obvious?) and was awaiting your riposte, which is spot on.<br /><br />As Paul Krugman commented, Osborne's story is unfortunately (for most of us) gaining traction to judge from my conversations with people in general. <br /><br />I find people think it odd when, in contrast to their roseate view of the future, I mention that I think we still are in a 'low-grade' depression where growth is possible but does not indicate a durable improvement.<br /><br />Mindset is a key factor in this discussion. As all the main tenets of Austerity have been shown to be false in fact, we can only account for its continuance on the grounds that it is an ideology, or even perhaps an article of faith. <br /><br />This would explain why, politically at least, the argument for Austerity still has the upper hand and how, sound-bit by sound-bite, it has been built into a nostrum for most people, including those who regard themselves as informed.<br /><br />I would be interested to hear yours and others' views on the psychology (psychosis?!) of this issue.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com