Inflation costs
CPI inflation is still over 10% which means we can all afford less, including the government. The list of things it can no longer afford is very long, and seems to have been growing larger and larger even during times of low inflation.
The Army, Navy and Air Force are all too small, the NHS is underfunded, houses are not being built and HS2 will connect some milk stops, slowly. The list goes on.
Now the right wing commentariat is coming for the state pension, “no longer affordable”, even when it is the lowest and worst in pretty much the whole of Europe.
We could afford all these things before the Tory party came into power but no longer, strange since the economy has been booming; according to the Tory party.
Or perhaps we should be investing in a growth strategy that is realistic. Let’s forget semiconductors and car batteries we are never going to be a world leader in those technologies, we have missed the bus.
But any kind of growth would be nice, sustained, steady above trend or even near trend growth, you’d be amazed at what the country could afford after a few years of that.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
By Jonty Bloom Media