British Chancellor George Osborne’s claim that he has ‘won the economic argument’ against Labour has not received the coverage it deserves. His claims that the nation has entered a period of sustained economic growth; that his Help to Buy scheme is developing the housing market; and that his draconian spending cuts have enabled these supposed ‘good times’ to exist, deserve a lot more scrutiny than they have received.
Six years after Britain crashed into recession, it is not only a shock that we haven’t made a full recovery- the economy growing to its pre-recession peak- by now. This is indeed the slowest post-war recovery that has ever taken place in this country. But unfortunately for us, the headline growth that exists does not seem to be reaching most of us.
So if the corporate kleptocracy that exerts so much power today is flourishing despite every attempt by the Chancellor to dampen consumer demand, he can welcome the nice-sounding statistics that are created, but it would be naive to assume it has much impact on the middle and working classes. If you ask the typical voter about the state of the economy, a large number would still say that we’re in recession. Why should they think otherwise. Still their paypackets shrink. Still their local businesses close. Still our public services shut down. The recession of living standards is alive and well, and the statistics that show it are just as important as that of GDP.
Labour warned that Osborne’s cuts would trigger a second recession, and they did. Campaigners warned that homelessness and foodbank visits would surge as the welfare state was attacked, and they did. The Bank of England and international economic institutions have warned that Help to Buy will create a second housing bubble when the first one hasn’t properly burst. At this stage, it looks like they’re right: house prices are surging ahead of inflation when they are far above the sustainable level of 3.6 times median earners.
Osborne hasn’t won a single argument. He’s just as incompetent as ever.
