Ahem
Deregulation of bank lending wasn't Brown's doing.

It was Thatcher's government giving the market the right to "regulate itself".

We're just reaping the benefits.
(Captain Placid 24/7 ball gags, brownie mix and clown porn, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 13:05, 1 reply)

except...
that brown thought privatising the Bank of England and then making it responsible for the interest rates was a good idea. Well, it was politically, after all he can jsut say "it wasn't our government it was the Bank of England". Besides, you can't go back to Thatcher - that was nearly 30 years ago. Brown and Blair always blamed "the previous administration", but the fact is that, after 12 years in power, they ARE the previous administration. They inherited a healthy economy, opened up banking legislation to the point of irresponsibility and patted each other on the back whilst the markets soaredl ike fireworks...then looked confused when it went bang.

The last Labour government we had did something very similar. In fact they broke the car industry (god bless those strikes, go-slows and union-led hijacking of management strategies), wrecked the economy to the point we only had electricity four days a week and then fell apart in a frenzy of finger-pointing. Yes, Thatcher made some unpopular decisions, but given the choice was either that or having the UK go totally tits-up, I think we got out ok. We got hit hard in 87, but recovered fast, we got hid hard in 93 but recovered fast, yet after 10 YEARS of supposed year-on-year growth, Brown cannot make a single move to rectify the economy. Why? Because his "boom" was false, based on imaginary money and public borrowing to instill false confidence in the economy. Which is why, now we have hit the inevitable "bust" (even Brown, who admitted to saving the world, can't prevent economic cycles, regardless of what he says), we're totally and utterly fucked.

My prediction? An election in 2009/2010 resulting in a Conservative government. Cameron and his team have to make tough decisions to clear up Labour's mess, meaning that whilst we stay afloat, the pikeys that were borrowing when they couldn't afford it will get moody because they aren't able to buy PS3s and TVs they want. So, that when the next election comes around, the ungrateful fuckers go running back to Labour who will promise the moon and do their best to bankrupt us again...

Sound familiar?
(Chad, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 13:17, closed)