The problem with blaming the world
Peter Hoskin 8:59am
Alistair Darling goes into full "blame the world" mode in his interview with the FT today - saying that international coordination will be "crucial" to get credit flowing through the financial system and to help our economy recover from the recession. As Iain Dale noted, similar claims littered Gordon Brown's weekend interviews; so we're seeing something of a new Labour spin line - or at least one that's been reheated since last October.
Now, I would be slightly sympathetic to the claim - after all, the interconnectedness of the world banking system means that local recovery is partially contingent on global recovery - were it not for my suspicions that the Government's deploying it for two reasons: i) to handily shift the blame should their measures not work, and ii) to push the narrative that they called for the world to act, and - lo and behold, via Obama's fiscal stimulus - it did!
But, likewise, there are two reasons to think that blaming the world won't get Brown & Co. very far:
i) If other countries start recovering quicker than Britain - and there's some evidence that they will - then things will increasingly look like our problem rather than the world's problem.
ii) It raises the question of why - beyond a sense of urgency - the Government funnelled so much taxpayers' money into schemes that require international cooperation to work properly. Would it not have been better to wait, to some extent, for coordinated action from other countries?
The worry for Team Brown is that the second set of "reasons" starts to dominate people's thinking once 2009's grim economic trends unfold themselves.
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Polly and Alice's mum
January 7th, 2009 10:03am Report this commentThe Problem with Blaming the World, is that none of us any longer believe a word that McBroon or Darling say.
TPR
January 7th, 2009 10:09am Report this commentHaving watched Brown's interview with Marr, Sunday last, the real reasons for his spin were all too transparent to anyone with a modicum of intelligence. Same old course ("if only they'd listened to me, blah, blah, blah"), just a different tack. Brown is clearly of the opinion that if he repeats something long enough the masses will take it as fact. After all, such a tactic works on the Supreme Leader himself - "we are well placed to weather the storm, blah, blah, blah". I've heard these lines so many times now, I have them memorised. I still don't believe them though!
Michael Doyle
January 7th, 2009 10:16am Report this commentA Recession (capital ‘R’) is a godsend to all Left-wing governments.
They can blame the big bad bankers for their greedy excesses (yes, I know its all clichés, but then they’re so much easier to think of, the media love them, and the public feel safer hearing the same old songs).
The politicians in power can pay bucket-loads of dosh to correct-thinking consultants to tell them what they want to hear (and those consultants will later make some juicy donations to the Party). Those same politicians, with no need to worry about Departmental budgets, can spend spend spend on their pet ideas no matter how ludicrous. Spend? Of course! Spend as much as you like! It helps to keep people in jobs! (And we can blame any deficit on the Recession!) .
Oh happy days , with this wonderful Recession. What a wonderful excuse for all Labour’s economic stuff-ups! Just blame it on the rest of the world, and say “Its happening to every other country. At least we’re not so bad as that nation over there … or that one or that one.”
Oh and another big benefit of a Recession ? Its a great excuse for *not* providing real benefits to the truly needy in the community.
Nicholas
January 7th, 2009 10:28am Report this commentThey do really believe it though. Self-delusion is part of the socialist make-up. One only has to sit in a meeting with modern socialists to understand that almost everything about them is delusion and euphemism, smoke and mirrors but paradoxically dressed up as goodness and light. The deception at the heart of their dogma is the very imperative of Political Correctness.
Truth is their final enemy. Until the media and the GBP (and David Cameron?) catch on to that and restore Truth to its rightful position at the heart of our nation the Labour illusionists will continue to strut the stage with their tawdry acts of magic and deception.
TomTom
January 7th, 2009 10:46am Report this commentCan the Conservatives start to highlight the dire state of gas markets and storage capacity in Britain ? If VAT is only 5% on gas and electricity it shows that a 2.5% cut in VAT has little effect on consumers when prices are simply too high for essentials.
Why regulation of gas/electricity/water is so weak in Britain may help explain why people have no money. And watching Putin play the OPEC card a la 1973 is to see a weak and supine EU which expands but cannot guarantee energy supplies
TGF UKIP
January 7th, 2009 11:04am Report this commentCOFFEE HOUSERS MAY WISH TO NOTE, the following peition is now available for signature on the Number 10 website:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to resign due to gross financial incompetence in running the British economy."
The petition placed by Alex Wallace is open only until 15th January and can be accessed at:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Fianance/
(And no that's not my mistake,"Fianance" is how they spell it - perhaps, some of Ms Smith's illegal immigrants are working for Gordon)
Target must be at least a million so get signing and don't forget to tell your mates.
Wilhelm
January 7th, 2009 12:31pm Report this commentZombie Alistair Darling squeeels
'' Its not my fault, its the worlds fault. Guv ''
Take that dopey logic to its logical conclusion, if the British economy is working well, its not Alistair Darlings fault either.
Wilhelm
January 7th, 2009 12:40pm Report this commentNicholas
The deception of the others is rooted in the deception of oneself.
And Gordon Broon thinks he is Jesus who has saved the world.
What an egomaniac, eh ?
Slim Jim
January 7th, 2009 2:17pm Report this commentTGF UKIP - Unfortunately, it won't make a shred of difference to the Traitor even if the entire population signed the petition! It's a general election or bust. Nice try though.
Nigel Barlow
January 7th, 2009 5:17pm Report this commentI think that you make two very valid points Peter,especially the urgency about an action that needed global coordination.
I think that at the moment all the evidence is that it will take Britain and probably the US the longest to come out of recession.That is the fault of our past economic growth being reliant on financial services and consumerism.
The debate as to whose fault that is starts sometime around 1981.
Diswiss
January 7th, 2009 6:11pm Report this commentBrown is like a dung-beetle :
up to his eyes in it and loving
every minute of it.
skooch
January 7th, 2009 9:29pm Report this commentPeter -
I've said it before; that every country's response will, necessarily, be a different one. We all start from differing positions, with different positions to protect. Look at the economic variance between Germany and Italy - will be interesting to see how the EU squares that kind of circle.
The individual dynamics of each country will determine their ideas.
How you come up with co-ordinated action, that will achieve both global equilibrium, and counter current events in individual states beats me. But then what do I know?
2 things I have read recently. 1/ IMF report 28th/29th? Dec into historical responses to various crises, and 2/ IMF reports for 2007 and 2008 re UK situation. Re 2nd: Looks like 2 completely diff countries - all within, about 18 months. IMF.com + surfing their site.
Reminds me of Gov B of E saying in July that inflation is the prob, then in Oct saying deflation will do for us.
Yikes.
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