Michael Meacher MP

The internal contradictions in Osborne’s economic policy multiply.   Before the election he complained quite rightly that the nation’s private debt was far too high – in the bubble years it reached £1.35 trillion, only slightly less than the nation’s entire GDP which was £1.45 trillion.   It is now £1.56 trillion, and according to the Office of Budget Responsibility (a proxy for the Treasury) it is expected to reach a staggering £2.13 trillion in 2015.   That is half as much again as total national income and nearly twice total household income.   That might seem a disastrous failure for Government economic policy (and of course in one sense it is), but what is so perverse is that it’s actually being welcomed by Government.   Here’s why. (more…)