Although it hasn’t been going long, LabourList is already brightening up the blogosphere. They seem up for a genuine scrap, as opposed to the hysteria and name calling that the left often succumb to. It has challenged me to explain Alan Duncan’s claim that Obama is in a better position to launch a debt-fuelled stimulus than Britain – suggesting I would be as rude to the Tories’ new Shadow Leader of the House as I would be to Mr Brown. I’m not going to be. Duncan was right: America as a country owes about a quarter of what Britain does. And why do I say so? Here’s the maths.
1) Labour List quotes the IMF to the effect that US net debt is 50.7% of GDP and Britain only 38.5% of GDP.
Why, you might wonder, does LabourList use an annual IMF report for UK debt? Because it’s the only source on earth that puts it at 38.5%
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