New data show even tiny growth suggested earlier was a mirage
The UK economy flatlined under Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’s policies from July – when they took office – to September, according to revised figures issued this morning. The UK is on the verge of recession now, but the government had been clinging to the previous round of figures that showed tiny growth of 0.1%, which the new data show didn’t happen.
Labour has made claims that it will grow the economy the excuse for Reeves’s policies and Starmer’s refusal to invest by reversing cuts imposed on children, older women and the poorest over fourteen years of Tory government, as well as imposing new cuts on the elderly and on public services – but these claims have taken barely a month to unravel after Reeves’s Budget, despite Reeves’s boast last week that she had ‘restored the foundations [of the economy] by restoring stability’.
Reeves’s policies are also keeping interest rates higher, causing severe expense and hardship for millions.
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These new figures are a further confirmation that Starmer and Reeves are absolutely useless.
I write this as an advocate of degrowth, but that also means investment in useful industries.
The Red Tories are politically and economically incompetent. I knew appointing Mandelson as Ambassador would incur the wrath of Trump.
Britain is a service economy that needs discretional spending to function. So payments for the third+ child, winter fuel and WASPI women would be instantly spent into the economy, increasing GDP. Nationalising essential services, and investing in the NHS, Green New Deal and other sunrise industries would also help the economy.
If even I know that, and I don’t pretend to be an economic expert, how come these overpromoted fools like Sturmer and Thieves don’t?
Incidentally, I went on a Sunday walk at lunchtime yesterday. I passed a row of virtually empty restaurants, cafes and bars. That suggests to me that the economy is stagnating, because people are cutting back discretionary spending a lot because of food and energy costs which are imo around +10% recently.
Even though Brexit took the UK economy out of the EU the Ponzi scheme model remains the same.
Coupled with the blowback of sanctions on anyone and everyone who does not agree to kow-tow to this failed and collapsing model – which has not only destroyed the EU and the economies of its constituent countries but also the economy of the UK – along with the de-industrialisation of those economies and their replacement by the creditor oligarchy in favour of a feudalistic parasitic rentier Financialised economy, the outcome is dire.
As laid out here in this piece from twenty five months ago:
https://www.leftbrainwave.com/2022/11/the-coming-european-economic-apocalypse.html
In the coming decades the populations on the Home Front “Garden” look set to experience the kind of treatment that has been meted out to the “inferior” populations of Borell’s “Jungle” for the past five hundred years as the failure to secure the heartland resources that was Project Ukraine takes effect and the Ponzi Scheme that passes for the West’s self-defined “superior” model eats itself into the inevitable collapse. Just as previous iterations of the same not fit for purpose – self-styled only “credible” TINA model – have done in the historical past.
I love the image! It’s very arresting. The colour contrast is great. It seems off somehow, like it was Ai generated or tweaked, but in a very appropriate and wonderful way. The politicians appear unhuman somehow. Like zombies, living in the Uncanny Valley of UK Labour. Thank you
Reeves, Starmer et al have no interest in the people of the UK. They may regurgitate banalities periodically about ‘improving public services’, or ‘putting more money back in workers’ pockets’ but the truth is, whether we consider for example the clearly intended further privatisation of the NHS or facilitating yet more bill-payers money to be slung into the sewer that is Thames Water, it is patently clear that the government are not on our side. They support the corporate businesses and their shareholders, not the people of the UK.
I was reading an interesting article earlier by Sunjeev Bery, not directly about the UK economy, it’s actually about the reasons why the CEO of UnitedHealth Group was murdered. The sub-headline of the article reads,
“The U.S. political system is owned by corporations despised by the American people. Luigi Mangione is the result.”
For me, Bery gives a succinct overview of what is wrong, not only with the American healthcare system, but what is wrong with a whole lotta things in the world right now.
He says,
“Of course, it is easy to treat UnitedHealthcare’s abuses as the actions of just one evil company run by a handful of bad men. But these companies are owned by Wall Street. Institutional investors and shareholders reward and punish corporate executives based on the profits they generate and the share prices they produce. In causing harm to so many Americans, Thompson was meeting the demands of his corporate board members and the even wealthier interests that they serve.
These profits generated by denying Americans medical care are in turn converted into campaign contributions and lobbying dollars that block our political system from doing anything about it.”
He also comes up with some interesting ways to fight back too.
https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/luigi-mangione-unitedhealthcare-insurance/
On that theme, JulieT, you might be interested in this recent naked capitalism article…
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/12/the-us-embrace-of-incarceration-for-the-homeless-is-a-win-win-for-the-plutocrats.html
……which lays out the “modern” US equivalent of the UK’s Poor laws and workhouses.
Thanks DH – I know the US prison labor ‘system’ is notorious for being ‘self-sustaining’ as well as being a nice little earner for those private prison corps. Those ideas on criminalising homelessness are migrating here across the Pond too. In our area they are just making more cuts to homeless provision – we’ll no doubt see some ‘policies’ [aka contracts for mates] on this at some point.
……and also this piece….
https://neuburger.substack.com/p/why-ceos-and-the-very-rich-should
….which was also republished on naked capitalism.