King's Speech

The King's Speech in Newcastle

Bank of England's point man Mervyn King ventured into the heart of Britain's economic wasteland yesterday, to deliver a speech that I had read in late afternoon already before going to a concert. I pretty much agree with the points Mr King relayed to an audience assembled in Newcastle's Civic Centre last evening.

The current economic mayhem is a result from the intricately irresponsible and insane US Housing and Banking industries, and culminated in the implosion of these sectors in 2008-2009. Since then, recession has hit many parts of the world (with the notable exception of the Far East and Australia) and in Britain the danger of a double-dip recession very probable (already the last quarter of 2010 has shown a shocking contraction of the economy by 0.5%; a second consecutive quarter of negative growth would constitute such double-dip).

Faced with the conundrum of weak - if at all - growth, high unemployement and soaring inflation rate, it was of no surprise that Mr King's speech entailed bleak assessments and predictions. Surprising, albeit highly appropriate, was the BoE Governor's endorsement of the Government's austerity programme to reign in the heritage of the Labour regime which has laid the foundation for the current misery in Britain.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/speeches/2011/speech471.pdf