Daily comment: The best laid plans of mice and Gideon

Sorry, had a busy day yesterday so could not comment.

Inflation according to the Consumer Price Index (SPI) is up at 5.2% for September as compared to 4.5% for the month before.  This is a higher level than even September 2008 when the economic crisis hit.  The CPI was set in 1997 and there has never yet been a higher level than then, but this current level is still a subject for concern.

Similarly the Retail Price Index (RPI) is also up from 5.2% to 5.6%.  This is the highest since June 1991!  If this doesn’t mean much to you the CPI is an indication of prices of everyday items people like you and I buy in the supermarket and the RPI is an indication of mortgages, etc.

Gideon’s plans are obviously not working as the inflation shows a lack of confidence by consumers.  This is still not helped by the high prices set by foreign oil and gas companies.  Trouble is we are reliant on them as 20 years ago we had our own supplies in the North Sea…these got sold off/ran out…wonder who sold them off?  Maybe Gideon and CallMeDave can tell us?

Quantative Easing will not help as this can only be seen as a sign of the Bank of England panicking.  This in turn will lead to even less consumer confidence.

Then we come to the discussion I had with my brother last night about the public sector.  Even at the ages of 21 and 24 we could work this one out.  In times of economic trouble (primarily) the Labour Party created public sector jobs.  In the late 1940’s they expanded local government and created the NHS.  Before that even, after The Great War they created council housing, which gave men jobs building them.  In the current climate what does the coalition do?  Cuts public sector spending and therefore jobs.  In the past people in public sector jobs meant more people with incomes to spend money in the shops.  This is turn created more jobs in retail and the private sector.  If you take out the base of our economy (public sector) then we will have nothing in the higher levels.  This is nothing to do with ‘saving’ the economy.  This is a vicious attack on the public sector.  The country is now starting to pay the price with high unemployment and high inflation.

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