tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212152.post-56530825771796098832008-02-14T09:17:00.011Z2008-02-14T15:14:45.890Z2008-02-14T15:14:45.890Z<div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday Mervyn King said the Bank of England's predictions for growth in yesterday's inflation report were <span style="font-style: italic;">"not inconsistent"</span> with two quarters of zero or negative growth - the economist's technical definition of a recession. <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">For a central banker, that is strong language.</span><br /><br />Meanwhile on planet Brown the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, claimed yesterday that <span style="font-style: italic;">"the fundamentals of the British economy are strong because of what we have done over the last 10 years. They will remain strong.... because of the robustness of our economy, I am confident that we can return to growth and we can keep inflation down to target."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1300/1391141294_37d321d191_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1300/1391141294_37d321d191_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In reality inflation is now higher than in 1997 when Gordon took over, the ballooning budget deficit is 2.8% - the largest in Western Europe and nearly triple the pan-EU deficit average of 1.1%. <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Real incomes are now falling...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_EQc_hLHXONE/RsWM_DP1IhI/AAAAAAAAA1U/hr3yfPS9P9s/s1600-h/boom+to+bust.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_EQc_hLHXONE/RsWM_DP1IhI/AAAAAAAAA1U/hr3yfPS9P9s/s400/boom+to+bust.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099637167898305042" border="0" /></a>The Citizens Advice Bureau has just released a <a href="http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/pdf_set_up_to_fail_evidence_report.pdf">report</a> which says "<span style="font-style: italic;">The number of county court actions for mortgage and secured loans has also risen steeply over the last few years. Between 2004 and 2006, the number of mortgage possession claims has increased by nearly 70% and the number of possession orders actually made by 94%. The number of possession actions in 2006 is now similar to that seen at the beginning of the mortgage repossession crisis in 1990."</span> Somebody should dig out that old Labour Party general election poster which blamed house repossessions on Hague and Portillo, changing the pictures to Brown and Darling. <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> So much for an end to boom and bust...</span><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br /> <a href="http://messagespace.advertserve.com/advertpro/servlet/click/zone?zid=70&pid=5&lookup=true&position=1" target="_top"> <img src="http://messagespace.advertserve.com/advertpro/servlet/view/banner/image/zone?zid=70&pid=5&position=1" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" alt="Advertise on this site with MessageSpace" /> </a></div>Guido Fawkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15091277669318213298noreply@blogger.com