UK economy 'faces crisis' warns former IMF economist

[DimPrawn]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/e...-suggests.html

Britain may be in line for its most blistering economic recovery in almost 40 years, at least according to an authoritative measure from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The OECD's leading indicator for the UK – a frequently reliable indicator of turning points in economies throughout the world – has risen to the highest level since 1973.

The indicator, which is designed to signal whether an economy is heading into recession or bouncing back towards recovery, rose for the 11th straight month in December, increasing to 105.8 points.


Boomed!

Keeping voting Labour you clever people!

[Gonzo]

More from that article, Alistair Darling is quoted

"The important thing is that we all are absolutely committed to maintaining the support for our economies until we make sure we have recovery established, and than to make sure we can chart a way to ensure that we got sound, long-term growth in the future," he said.

"In the last 18 months, we've come through an extremely turbulent period. But I think we can be confident, although we remain cautious, that we are on the right path, provided we see that through."

What?

He's got no idea what he is doing.

[AtW]

Britain should be seen in the same category of countries as Greece and Spain, who are facing severe debt problems, a leading economist has said.

Ex-IMF chief economist Simon Johnson, also described the G7 group of leading economies as "fundamentally useless".

His comments to the BBC came as G7 finance ministers discussed the growing crisis in some Eurozone nations.

Treasury sources said all three major credit rating agencies had reaffirmed the UK's triple A credit status. (AtW's comment: were these the same agencies that rated subprime junk as AAA? Surely not...)

One of the major concerns about a country having large budget deficits is that it cannot spend sufficiently to boost its economy.

Although the UK did officially come out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2009 - ending six consecutive quarters of economic decline - the growth was just 0.1%, much less than expected.

"It is right that borrowing has been allowed to rise so that the government has been able to protect the economy from the global downturn," a Treasury spokesman said.

"But, supporting the economy through to recovery goes hand-in-hand with steps to rebuild fiscal strength once recovery is firmly established. (AtW's translation - taxes would have to go up...)

"That is why the government has set out a clear plan to halve the deficit over the next four years, while protecting the frontline services that people depend on."

More from BBC.