Obvious onslaught on one's oakus...

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BoJo seems to have gone stir crazy, a sort of demob happy in reverse. The overbudget, behind schedule, no business case, no environmental case, unwanted and unneeded HS2, the Huawei bullet (now dodged maybe), possible fuel tax rises, green zero carbon eco-lunacy etc. money money money.



The graph highlights the good work done (slowly but surely) over the last decade to reduce borrowing (spending!). Now it is all set to go pear shaped. That said, the graph really does pop the bubble and highlight the lies of the 'austerity' screamers* (quadruple, triple and double the 2007 borrowing from 2009-2016...and they didn't hide it under the mattress). Spending has been more than income since 2002.

Graph hat-tip: Guido.

Full info debt, deficit, borrowing, receipts etc: UK Gov ONS Public Sector Finances.



* It may have been just a 'vote for me' gimmick but BoJo was wrong to say "austerity" was 'not the way forward'.

Obvious onslaught on one's oakus...

---

BoJo seems to have gone stir crazy, a sort of demob happy in reverse. The overbudget, behind schedule, no business case, no environmental case, unwanted and unneeded HS2, the Huawei bullet (now dodged maybe), possible fuel tax rises, green zero carbon eco-lunacy etc. money money money.

The graph highlights the good work done (slowly but surely) over the last decade to reduce borrowing (spending!). Now it is all set to go pear shaped. That said, the graph really does pop the bubble and highlight the lies of the 'austerity' screamers* (quadruple, triple and double the 2007 borrowing from 2009-2016...and they didn't hide it under the mattress). Spending has been more than income since 2002.

Graph hat-tip: Guido.
Full info debt, deficit, borrowing, receipts etc: UK Gov ONS Public Sector Finances.

* It may have been just a 'vote for me' gimmick but BoJo was wrong to say "austerity" was 'not the way forward'.

Outstanding Osborne...

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It looks a bit blurred; click to enlarge for clearer view...

Britain is now running a current budget surplus. OK, I know it wasn't all George Osborne but credit where it is due. An outstanding achievement, albeit slightly later than originally forecast. And guess what, the BBC are actually reporting it, although not on their Home Page, nor main News page and already a long way down the list on the UK Politics page. And, as it is the BBC, with the twist of the knife in the headline link "Cameron and Osborne hail austerity plan" giving it the 'evil' look that allows Labour fools in with such ridiculous comments: "Labour accused them of 'egotistical boasting' while families suffered." FFS, can't think why cuts in spending were necessary, can you, Labour Party? And the plan was NEVER 'austerity' anyway, merely cutting back gross excess and trimming. And when they claim local authorities are closing libraries due to nasty Tory austerity cuts ask them why the same Councils have gambled with public money (hundreds of millions in savings in Icelandic banks revealed after the crash, by 2014 they had most back) and are currently spending hundreds of millions on "punting like drunken sailors" on "hedge fund-style activity". [2017 FT, requires registration]

Anyway, [edited] research published by the International Monetary Fund "Climbing Out of Debt, A new study offers more evidence that cutting spending is less harmful to growth than raising taxes" [LINK] [PDF] said Britain set an example for other countries to follow in slashing the deficit by cutting public spending, rather than raising taxes. [DT] "Our conclusion runs against the basic Keynesian message, which implies that spending cuts are more recessionary than tax increases"... "On the contrary, our study confirms that expenditure-based plans generally were less harmful to growth than tax-based plans.".



Well done David Cameron, well done George Osborne and team. Well done the Conservative Party.



Despite Brexit :-)

Outstanding Osborne...

---

It looks a bit blurred; click to enlarge for clearer view...

Britain is now running a current budget surplus. OK, I know it wasn't all George Osborne but credit where it is due. An outstanding achievement, albeit slightly later than originally forecast. And guess what, the BBC are actually reporting it, although not on their Home Page, nor main News page and already a long way down the list on the UK Politics page. And, as it is the BBC, with the twist of the knife in the headline link "Cameron and Osborne hail austerity plan" giving it the 'evil' look that allows Labour fools in with such ridiculous comments: "Labour accused them of 'egotistical boasting' while families suffered." FFS, can't think why cuts in spending were necessary, can you, Labour Party? And the plan was NEVER 'austerity' anyway, merely cutting back gross excess and trimming. And when they claim local authorities are closing libraries due to nasty Tory austerity cuts ask them why the same Councils have gambled with public money (hundreds of millions in savings in Icelandic banks revealed after the crash, by 2014 they had most back) and are currently spending hundreds of millions on "punting like drunken sailors" on "hedge fund-style activity". [2017 FT, requires registration]

Anyway, [edited] research published by the International Monetary Fund "Climbing Out of Debt, A new study offers more evidence that cutting spending is less harmful to growth than raising taxes" [LINK] [PDF] said Britain set an example for other countries to follow in slashing the deficit by cutting public spending, rather than raising taxes. [DT] "Our conclusion runs against the basic Keynesian message, which implies that spending cuts are more recessionary than tax increases"... "On the contrary, our study confirms that expenditure-based plans generally were less harmful to growth than tax-based plans.".

Well done David Cameron, well done George Osborne and team. Well done the Conservative Party.

Despite Brexit :-)

Obamacare overspend...

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"And The Biggest Contributor To U.S. Growth in 2015 Was.."? Answer: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), generally known as Obamacare (defined as a tax by the US Supreme Court). [Zero Hedge] The US is in a manufacturing recession but the 'services' half of the economy continues to grow (something the UK knows all about), by far the highest category for personal spending was healthcare:

Obamacare overspend...

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"And The Biggest Contributor To U.S. Growth in 2015 Was.."? Answer: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), generally known as Obamacare (defined as a tax by the US Supreme Court). [Zero Hedge] The US is in a manufacturing recession but the 'services' half of the economy continues to grow (something the UK knows all about), by far the highest category for personal spending was healthcare:

Obvallated overspend...

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"...But what didn't matter was money. No matter which way you looked at it, ‘the level of funding, per se, is almost irrelevant as a predictor or performance", Fraser Nelson in The Spectator on education spending. The UK Department for Education asked Deloitte to study the pupil database factoring in a number of variables: exam results, postcode, ethnicity, poverty...and spending.



What Fraser says is clear: from the report (pdf), Insight 4: "there is no correlation between levels of funding and pupil performance"...oops!

Obvallated overspend...

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"...But what didn't matter was money. No matter which way you looked at it, ‘the level of funding, per se, is almost irrelevant as a predictor or performance", Fraser Nelson in The Spectator on education spending. The UK Department for Education asked Deloitte to study the pupil database factoring in a number of variables: exam results, postcode, ethnicity, poverty...and spending.

What Fraser says is clear: from the report (pdf), Insight 4: "there is no correlation between levels of funding and pupil performance"...oops!

Opiparous oration...

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Fox in the headless chicken house: good speech to the IEA today. Here is what he said in full. So, "Liam Fox urges spending freeze" (a freeze? Surely there were already cuts?) [BBC]

"Mr Fox's proposed freeze on all public spending - as against the current freeze for Whitehall departmental budgets - would cut spending in real terms by 2.5% a year. The current plan is for a 1% annual cut."

Ah. And, my favourite bit of his speech;

"We are all familiar with the issue and history of debt.  In 1997 Labour inherited a balanced budget on coming to office – indeed, it was a budget that was set to move into surplus...



...To make matters worse, the panic spending that Gordon Brown embarked upon in order to try to avoid his impending defeat, set a trajectory for spending that would see debts continue to mount at an alarming rate. 



Even with the coalition Government’s deficit reduction plans - which the current Labour leader has attended Trade Union rallies to protest against - the national debt will reach £1.4 trillion in 2015.



History will judge Gordon Brown and his disciples harshly."

I live in hope: the pike is sharpened; the city gates in view. More from Thomas Pascoe reporting [DT], "Dr Liam Fox is absolutely right when it comes to Labour's legacy of debt".

"They spent with abandon, rolling out the Socialist vision of a big state. But much worse; rather than diminishing the reliance that individuals have on the state, they purposely pushed the drug of welfare addiction to more and more people, ensnaring even the affluent middle classes... ..The expansion of welfare addiction is one of the most corrosive effects of socialism and it must not only be neutralised, but reversed."

However, many weren't impressed.

Opiparous oration...

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Fox in the headless chicken house: good speech to the IEA today. Here is what he said in full. So, "Liam Fox urges spending freeze" (a freeze? Surely there were already cuts?) [BBC]

"Mr Fox's proposed freeze on all public spending - as against the current freeze for Whitehall departmental budgets - would cut spending in real terms by 2.5% a year. The current plan is for a 1% annual cut."

Ah. And, my favourite bit of his speech;

"We are all familiar with the issue and history of debt.  In 1997 Labour inherited a balanced budget on coming to office – indeed, it was a budget that was set to move into surplus...

...To make matters worse, the panic spending that Gordon Brown embarked upon in order to try to avoid his impending defeat, set a trajectory for spending that would see debts continue to mount at an alarming rate. 

Even with the coalition Government’s deficit reduction plans - which the current Labour leader has attended Trade Union rallies to protest against - the national debt will reach £1.4 trillion in 2015.

History will judge Gordon Brown and his disciples harshly."

I live in hope: the pike is sharpened; the city gates in view. More from Thomas Pascoe reporting [DT], "Dr Liam Fox is absolutely right when it comes to Labour's legacy of debt".

"They spent with abandon, rolling out the Socialist vision of a big state. But much worse; rather than diminishing the reliance that individuals have on the state, they purposely pushed the drug of welfare addiction to more and more people, ensnaring even the affluent middle classes... ..The expansion of welfare addiction is one of the most corrosive effects of socialism and it must not only be neutralised, but reversed."

However, many weren't impressed.

Olamic orts of obvious osophy...

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Il n’y a pas d’alternative; "Margaret Thatcher’s words were delivered at a different time, but are as relevant as ever": there is no alternative. So concludes Tim Montgomerie's piece in The Times. There is no soft option: well worth a read, summarised here for those not subscribed. "But this [soon to be announced childcare initiatives, a single-tier state pension and help for elderly people to afford long-term care. Women will be the biggest beneficiaries of this programme] is gravy. The coalition’s meat and potatoes remains deficit reduction"; (indeed and don't mention the debt, which is a whole other ball-game!). Deficit reduction is the main objective and must continue despite hiccups and stalling due to international economic strife but also lack of will/commitment (I'll put this down - maybe wrongly - to the yellow part of the coalition). Anyway, I know the feeling: my own deficit reduction hits the same barriers every Christmas :-). Tim's main point is the comparison with France (and Ed Miliband's hopes of a lefty buddy across the water) but "Rather than delivering a sea change in European economic policy Mr Hollande has had to push through France’s toughest budget since the recessionary period of the 1980s."

"The truth is simple. Electorates in the highly indebted West don’t face a choice between anti-austerity politicians and pro-austerity politicians. The real choice is between politicians who are willing to tell voters the truth and politicians who pretend that more than a decade of over-borrowing can be wished away." 

If Mr Hollande has failed them, the international Left still hope that President Obama offers the world a pain-free alternative. Like Mr Hollande, Barack Obama campaigned on the big lie that higher taxes on the rich would solve the deficit."

Plus ça change...

Olamic orts of obvious osophy...

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Il n’y a pas d’alternative; "Margaret Thatcher’s words were delivered at a different time, but are as relevant as ever": there is no alternative. So concludes Tim Montgomerie's piece in The Times. There is no soft option: well worth a read, summarised here for those not subscribed. "But this [soon to be announced childcare initiatives, a single-tier state pension and help for elderly people to afford long-term care. Women will be the biggest beneficiaries of this programme] is gravy. The coalition’s meat and potatoes remains deficit reduction"; (indeed and don't mention the debt, which is a whole other ball-game!). Deficit reduction is the main objective and must continue despite hiccups and stalling due to international economic strife but also lack of will/commitment (I'll put this down - maybe wrongly - to the yellow part of the coalition). Anyway, I know the feeling: my own deficit reduction hits the same barriers every Christmas :-). Tim's main point is the comparison with France (and Ed Miliband's hopes of a lefty buddy across the water) but "Rather than delivering a sea change in European economic policy Mr Hollande has had to push through France’s toughest budget since the recessionary period of the 1980s."

"The truth is simple. Electorates in the highly indebted West don’t face a choice between anti-austerity politicians and pro-austerity politicians. The real choice is between politicians who are willing to tell voters the truth and politicians who pretend that more than a decade of over-borrowing can be wished away." 

If Mr Hollande has failed them, the international Left still hope that President Obama offers the world a pain-free alternative. Like Mr Hollande, Barack Obama campaigned on the big lie that higher taxes on the rich would solve the deficit."

Plus ça change...

Olid oligophrenic opposition...

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The Audit Commission has revealed that the cash reserves of English councils are up by 15.5 percent: [DM] from over 14 billion quid in 2011 to 16.4 billion this year. What's worse,

"A third of councils' annual spending now put straight into the bank"!!! 

WTF!! Proving that our media can never get the same figures, the DT has it just short of 13 billion quid (up 35% since 2007); Eric Pickles has said "It is unacceptable that some councils are stashing away billions [...] whilst at the same time threatening to cut front-line services". He is right, especially when only yesterday, the leaders of Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield councils were shrieking that deeper cuts will spark civil unrest [Observer]; these lying, corrupt, incompetent fuck-wits are intentionally stoking the flames, a self-fulfilling prophecy, and they know it, harping on with 'alarming predictions of social unrest' and a worsening of the north-south economic divide (a would guess 30 seconds on Google would produce any number of wasteful schemes and high or unnecessary expenses that these ideologically driven twats are spending). Cunt-features Blunkett was on about it too: "It is worse than under Margaret Thatcher. As living standards fall and services are slashed, revolutionary fervour may return". At least Tim pissed on Blunkett's fireworks but unfortunately a wider audience won't get the benefit of this exposure of blatant lies. We have seen this before, lefty local government trolls happy to see violence, damage, injury and probably death just to get one over on those 'evil Tories' (in fact we have an achingly fair and politically central government).

Olid oligophrenic opposition...

---

The Audit Commission has revealed that the cash reserves of English councils are up by 15.5 percent: [DM] from over 14 billion quid in 2011 to 16.4 billion this year. What's worse,

"A third of councils' annual spending now put straight into the bank"!!! 

WTF!! Proving that our media can never get the same figures, the DT has it just short of 13 billion quid (up 35% since 2007); Eric Pickles has said "It is unacceptable that some councils are stashing away billions [...] whilst at the same time threatening to cut front-line services". He is right, especially when only yesterday, the leaders of Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield councils were shrieking that deeper cuts will spark civil unrest [Observer]; these lying, corrupt, incompetent fuck-wits are intentionally stoking the flames, a self-fulfilling prophecy, and they know it, harping on with 'alarming predictions of social unrest' and a worsening of the north-south economic divide (a would guess 30 seconds on Google would produce any number of wasteful schemes and high or unnecessary expenses that these ideologically driven twats are spending). Cunt-features Blunkett was on about it too: "It is worse than under Margaret Thatcher. As living standards fall and services are slashed, revolutionary fervour may return". At least Tim pissed on Blunkett's fireworks but unfortunately a wider audience won't get the benefit of this exposure of blatant lies. We have seen this before, lefty local government trolls happy to see violence, damage, injury and probably death just to get one over on those 'evil Tories' (in fact we have an achingly fair and politically central government).

Osborne's options II...

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Once again what someone is going to say is reported well before the event: another of New Labour's gifts to the UK was making 'leaks' the norm: "Britain is facing a longer-than-expected battle to reduce its debts"; I wouldn't mind betting that most punters would not think it 'longer than expected' this inevitably slow journey out of the dark dank pit dug by Gordon Brown with the salivating, slimy,  greedy, corrupt Labour vampires cheering from the sidelines (Ed Balls and Ed Miliband amongst the loudest!). Anyway, enough about those fuck-wits...or maybe not: the BBC tells us that "Labour has called the government's economic policy 'a terrible failure'" ...erm...interesting because we are only just into the 2nd half of this Coalition government ("some progress but must try harder") and Andrew Lilico reminds us: "When Ed Balls attacks infrastructure cuts he is actually attacking cuts that Labour scheduled". Balls is a twat and despite those numbers being close there is a difference between Labour and Coalition plans when it comes to current spending (current spending cuts are only just beginning); however the capital spending cuts that Labour planned are what has already occurred - cuts about which Ed Balls seems to be constantly whining and blaming for the double dip! 

Osborne's options II...

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Once again what someone is going to say is reported well before the event: another of New Labour's gifts to the UK was making 'leaks' the norm: "Britain is facing a longer-than-expected battle to reduce its debts"; I wouldn't mind betting that most punters would not think it 'longer than expected' this inevitably slow journey out of the dark dank pit dug by Gordon Brown with the salivating, slimy,  greedy, corrupt Labour vampires cheering from the sidelines (Ed Balls and Ed Miliband amongst the loudest!). Anyway, enough about those fuck-wits...or maybe not: the BBC tells us that "Labour has called the government's economic policy 'a terrible failure'" ...erm...interesting because we are only just into the 2nd half of this Coalition government ("some progress but must try harder") and Andrew Lilico reminds us: "When Ed Balls attacks infrastructure cuts he is actually attacking cuts that Labour scheduled". Balls is a twat and despite those numbers being close there is a difference between Labour and Coalition plans when it comes to current spending (current spending cuts are only just beginning); however the capital spending cuts that Labour planned are what has already occurred - cuts about which Ed Balls seems to be constantly whining and blaming for the double dip! 

Obankrupt or Orkward?...

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Hilarious. The Economist cover this week has caused some whining but it isn't just 'Skintland', look at the rest (click image to enlarge): the Grumpians, Islay-offs, Null, Edinborrow...all totally childish... and marvellous. "Scotland could probably go it alone now, but the economics of independence are steadily worsening" [Economist]. Oil and gas, renewable energy, the state of the finance industry and the problem of currency choice amongst the problem areas to be 'solved'; "It remains a matter of judgment whether Scotland could go it alone. But after the banking and euro-zone crises, Scotland would be far more vulnerable to shocks as a nation of 5m people than as part of a diversified economy of 62m. There is an irony here: to preserve a distinctively open-handed Scottish social model, staying in the union might be the safest choice."

Obankrupt or Orkward?...

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Hilarious. The Economist cover this week has caused some whining but it isn't just 'Skintland', look at the rest (click image to enlarge): the Grumpians, Islay-offs, Null, Edinborrow...all totally childish... and marvellous. "Scotland could probably go it alone now, but the economics of independence are steadily worsening" [Economist]. Oil and gas, renewable energy, the state of the finance industry and the problem of currency choice amongst the problem areas to be 'solved'; "It remains a matter of judgment whether Scotland could go it alone. But after the banking and euro-zone crises, Scotland would be far more vulnerable to shocks as a nation of 5m people than as part of a diversified economy of 62m. There is an irony here: to preserve a distinctively open-handed Scottish social model, staying in the union might be the safest choice."

Overspending obstipation...

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Some great info HERE. "Information is beautiful: war games". Now, the image to the left is what we all knew right? Well almost: "Amid confusion over the rise in defence cuts, I was surprised to learn that the UK has one of the biggest military budgets in the world"...who knew the UK spent the same as China! But hey, no surprise that the US has the biggest - by a long way - military budget. So what would you say if I said that the USA spends the same on arms/defence as does Sri Lanka or Singapore. It's true! Click on image to find out.



 

Overspending obstipation...

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Some great info HERE. "Information is beautiful: war games". Now, the image to the left is what we all knew right? Well almost: "Amid confusion over the rise in defence cuts, I was surprised to learn that the UK has one of the biggest military budgets in the world"...who knew the UK spent the same as China! But hey, no surprise that the US has the biggest - by a long way - military budget. So what would you say if I said that the USA spends the same on arms/defence as does Sri Lanka or Singapore. It's true! Click on image to find out.