[MediconStop]

We have created a monster … banks with access to public funds


Iain Macwhirter
Sunday Herald
June 14, 2009

“Readers of the nation’s press over the last six months might have been forgiven for believing that there was an economic recession. Headlines like: Doom Britain, It’s Worse Than The Great Depression and Mothers Start Selling Children For Food might have led casual readers to conclude that Britain was in a very severe financial crisis. We would like to make it clear that there was not a jot or tittle of truth in these reports and that the British economy is bouncing back, house prices are booming and happy days are here again. On behalf of all newspapers and politicians, we would like to apologise for any confusion. Mr Robert Peston of the BBC has agreed to a 40% salary reduction, which he will donate to charity.”


It is the most dramatic turnaround in economic history: from bust to boom in a matter of weeks. The pound is up, oil prices are up, consumer confidence is up, bank lending is up and house prices rose 2.6% in May. That last figure is the most astonishing, since hardly any houses are actually being sold right now, and the vast majority of mortgages require a 25% deposit. But who am I to argue with the green shoots consensus? Killjoys might point out that unemployment is still growing fast, that most of our manufacturing industry is collapsing, and that personal and public debt levels remain at intolerable levels. You could point out that the Baltic Dry Shipping index - a measure of world trade - has collapsed again. But the word has gone out that the recession has “bottomed out” and anyone who departs from it is seen as talking down the economy.