Tagged with International Monetary Fund

IMF revision destroys Osbornomics

It is incredible the hold that mathematical modelling has over economic policy-making under neoliberal capitalism. This was the arcane and esoteric world that drove the brief ascendancy of toxic derivatives before they crashed and nearly brought down the global economy. More seriously still, these economic wizards who have until recently prided themselves as ‘the masters of the universe’ ran the IMF and forced developing countries and emerging markets into the straitjacket of their own learned theories, upholding the so-called Washington Consensus which all States should be compelled to follow. Until now. Continue reading →

Are Osborne & co. insane, deluded or just suicidal?

Et tu, Brute? We have now reached a point where it seems impossible to present a plausible rationale for continuing with the government’s economic strategy (for want of a worse word). Osborne, a nasty piece of work even at the best of times, is now being assailed by all those global or national financial authorities who’ve previously supported him. Even the IMF has officially told him: “Recovery has stalled. Post-crisis repair and rebalancing of the UK economy is likely to be more prolonged than initially envisaged. Confidence is weak and uncertainty is high”.

The latest GDP figures will show the UK economy flatlining now for 2 years and still in recession for the 3 months to June. Manufacturing and construction have contracted and services have failed to grow. Bank lending to industry is now at the worst trend since 2009, with a £3bn fall hitting SMEs hardest. Britain is now the only country in the G20, apart from Italy, which is in double-dip recession. Apart from that, everything’s fine. Continue reading →