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| Britain |
| Osborne: UK has run out of money |
| 2012-02-27 |
| In a stark warning ahead of next month’s Budget, the Chancellor said there was little the Coalition could do to stimulate the economy. Mr Osborne made it clear that due to the parlous state of the public finances the best hope for economic growth was to encourage businesses to flourish and hire more workers. “The British Government has run out of money because all the money was spent in the good years,” the Chancellor said. “The money and the investment and the jobs need to come from the private sector.” Mr Osborne’s bleak assessment echoes that of Liam Byrne, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, who bluntly joked that Labour had left Britain broke when he exited the Government in 2010. He left David Laws, his successor, a one-line note saying: “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left”. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #9 OOOOOOOO, "parlous"! Dare "Parlous" be the new "Narly"??? As per the USoA, iff Britain's official Debt-to-GDP ratio is less than as determined by Private or Market Analysts-Pundits, i.e. less than 100% or better, THEN LONDON = WASHINGTON CLEARLY HAS $$$ = RATIO PERCENTAGE POINTS LEFT TO USE UP IN GLORIOUS DEFICIT OVERSPENDING! ONLY THE GUMMERMINT SAYS 101% OR HIGHER NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY DOTH NOT EQUATE. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-02-27 19:04 |
| #8 Charmingly succinct; it's the contemporary version of the old Russian "write two letters" joke. Or the even funnier quip about ink in the inkpen and checks in the checkbook. |
| Posted by: badanov 2012-02-27 06:53 |
| #7 > the Chancellor said there was little the Coalition could do to stimulate the economy. But there NEVER IS anything the government can really do to stimulate the economy. It can "fiddle the reading" with debt, but it cannot boost the economy. What it can do is harm the economy less, and that means cutting taxes like VAT (sales tax). |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-02-27 04:37 |
| #6 #5 Full marks for refusing to borrow or print more money. Posted by Phil_B Unenlightened Phil. Everyone here knows borrowing even MORE, gets one out of debt. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-02-27 02:19 |
| #5 Full marks for refusing to borrow or print more money. The next stage is to shrink the size of government (fire civil servants) and reduce transfer payments (welfare). Altogether harder as Greece is finding out. |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2012-02-27 02:10 |
| #4 a one-line note Charmingly succinct; it's the contemporary version of the old Russian "write two letters" joke. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-02-27 02:07 |
| #3 "Dear Chief Secretary, I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left". How might we acquire some of the same refreshing candor for Washington? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-02-27 02:06 |
| #2 Neither was Maggie Thatcher. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2012-02-27 01:00 |
| #1 Apparently Mr Byrne wasn't joking. |
| Posted by: tipover 2012-02-27 00:31 |