The thing is he actually believes this:
That understands that if it delivers full employment budgets will balance,
It is necessary, just occasionally, to look up from the desk out of that window. To observe reality and check that it coincides with the ivory tower view.
So, the UK back three months. We were at full employment. The unemployment rate was down to where it had last been seen in the late 1960s. The employment to population ratio was the highest we’ve ever measured it.
The UK government was running a budget deficit.
The US was at equally low levels of unemployment. Again, back at rates last seen in the 1960s. The US Federal government was running a budget deficit – actually, a rising one.
Germany has rather a high unemployment rate. At least compared to the US and UK it does. Germany has been running a budget surplus.
So, full employment does not mean that the budgets balance, the absence of full employment does not mean that they won’t. It would seem that how much is spent in relation to what the tax rates are has something to do with it.
Reality, proving Spudda wrong again.
OT, from the Telegraph. Am thinking about paying a sub to it for this lockdown period, or is the Times a better idea – any other recommendations (and from other countries apart from the UK)? Thanks
“Why are we clapping the NHS? It is right and just to clap NHS workers, but that is not the same thing. Virtually everyone has reason to thank good nurses, doctors and paramedics. But if we are to praise large organisations for how effectively they have dealt with the coronavirus crisis, we should be clapping vigorously for Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons, who have responded nimbly to sudden extra demand for one of life’s basics – food. We should give only rather tepid applause for the efforts of the NHS to look after another of life’s basics – health.
As its name suggests, the National Health Service is there to serve the health of the nation. In this crisis, the roles have reversed – it is seen as the duty of the nation to serve the NHS. “Protect the NHS. Save lives,” says the slogan, in that rather surprising order. Children are made to recite it like a prayer. How are we to do this? We must help the NHS by avoiding hospitals and surgeries, we are told. The Government’s policy of lockdown is in significant part dictated by the demands not of patients, but of the NHS, and by its lack of adaptability and readiness….”
Off topic but I wonder how quickly and how far Spud will now be trying to stick his tongue up Keir Starmer’s arse.
Far too rosy a picture Tim
US Govt debt 17 million million +175 million million of owed but unfunded liabilities.
Unemp better–but how many have given up looking for work?
UK Govt debt 2 million million –Unemp ditto US
The rest of the Western world similar –with large numbers of essential goods made in a vile shithole like CCP-land.
New massive economic stress of lockdown lunacy=collapse of whole house of cards.
The massive deflation/liquidation/change of asset ownership that would clear up the entire mess–painfully but completely in a few years –will never happen.
As someone on Samizdata pointed out–Blojo/Trump are destroying the tax base with job losses so taxes WAY down also thus destroying their ability to borrow as no tax base to repay debt. Therefore they will PRINT.
Thus ord people squeezed between reduced income and massive–if not hyper–inflation
Bad news all around–just when we have masses of trained socialist liars already in place.
A re-run of the 1930s –or worse.
Surely the previous Murphy dictum claimed that a budget deficit was necessary at full employment, to provide the private sector with the growing stock of safe public assets that it craves?
He is never in doubt, but remarkably inconsistent, yet almost always wrong…
I’m having difficulty reconciling Kapt. Kartoffel with an ivory tower.
I’m not applauding the NHS. It appears that most of Europe and the states are trying the anti malarial drug to fight covid 19 but not the nhs who would rather that you die than treat you before full clinical trials are conducted .Sorry but that doesn’t fill me with admiration of an organisation willing to sacrifice lives rather than take a risk.
Moqifen.. get a grip mate. Consider the human angle. The NHS is a collection of huge number of individuals who are working day and night under incredible stress and putting them right in the firing line of the virus!!!.. and you can’t be arsed to go outside and clap for a couple of mins ? Maybe you’ll appreciate their efforts if you turn out to be an unfortunate soul who catches it
charlie harper – theres a world of difference between the nhs as an organisation and the individuals in it. In fact it appears the nhs as an organisation is prepared to sacrifice the lives of it’s own staff by not providing them with adequate ppe. I’m sorry if it doesn’t accord with the view of the NHS as envy of the world. This attitude means that much needed reform is never undertaken.
Moquifen… Can you pass the thought that chloroquine/derivatives is not a possible cure for CoVid-19 to what passes for your brain? Thankyou….
Chloroquine is an anti-inflammatory drug that inhibits inflammation damage. It limits excessive damage done to a patient’s body by his/her own immune system. It does not, nor will it ever, influence viral infection, or spread.
It does get used in CoVid treatment, but only in the same way it’s used in “treating” autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis: As an emergency break to stop the body shotgunning itself and prevent complications
It’s not a cure. It will never be. It’s at best a pallitive drug.
@moqifen
If we believe this government statement the sort of trial you want using hydroxychloroquine has been running for 2 weeks
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/worlds-largest-trial-of-potential-coronavirus-treatments-rolled-out-across-the-uk
Talking of Covid-19 drugs, has anyone seen anything about the development of an anti-viral drug recently? There was a lot of talk that they could be developed faster than a vaccine when this kicked off, but I haven’t seen anything for some time.
@Bravefart
Definitely The Times for my money. You get a better class of commenter, at least, and many of the op-ed pieces are worth reading (Rod Liddle … and even Matthew Parris when he stops banging on about Brexit). And the quizzes (set by Olav Bjortomt, no less), crosswords and mindgames are top notch.
“clapping the NHS”? Do they mean applauding? Clapping is what you do with irons.
@BinD
If you mean anything that isn’t at least as likely to kill the patient along with the virus? Nope. Not going to happen soon either.
The main problem is that while we can combat bacteria at the cellular level with antibiotics ( wich are basically membrane proteins that make the bacteria leak and lose their energy, mostly, simplified ), a generic, or even specific antiviral will need to work at the molecular level.
Which is very, very tricky to do right.
Even our own immune system is basically always just short of attacking our own cells, and even then regularly gets it wrong… Allergies and autoimmune afflictions are not exactly rare…
Making something that successfully tags viruses and does not send our immune systems into a frenzy killing us as well is… tricky…
Much, much easier to develop a vaccine, and even there you have to take care you don’t include particles that trigger unwanted reactions.
This may not be what people want to hear, but it is the current state of our knowledge and ability.
Grikath,
Thanks, it was wishful thinking then.
@grikath – i see you have adopted the capt potato defence – attack the person . @Bongo – thanks for that – i hadn’t seen any mention of the nhs trials of Hydroxychloroquine.
@BraveFart
Good post
I’ve been receiving two emails pd from Tele offering “CV-19, Read Tele for free”
Good NHS Nurses like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zO5exd3cAE
@moqifen April 4, 2020 at 11:20 am
Gove gave 5 sec mention of Hydroxychloroquine “Tests, Evaluate blah” today. Trump has kicked FDA’s arse, Gove et al still “listening to experts” from useless PHE etc and Not Leading
@Charlie Harper
Really?
Hospital staff so overworked, exhausted, blah they happily give lengthy standing whining interviews to BBC, C4 etc looking fresh and relaxed
@Grikath April 4, 2020 at 12:27 pm April 4, 2020 at 3:28 pm
Absolute bollocks
Are you stuck in BiG’s Baltic Row-Back boat too?
Aus copying stupid UK
Supermarkets to enforce social distancing restrictions in the lead up to Easter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e0na37TteE
Whut?
Mexico orders halt of production of Corona beer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arHkdlC8iAg
@Grikath
Good News Headlines not on BBC etc
Australia to use anti-malaria hydroxychloroquine in the fight against COVID-19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atw62JHjZns
UK open the world’s largest coronavirus critical care centre
20% patients might die, not 80% misleading BBC imply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuSpGVjhqFo