Xavier Adam Blog

Chickens come home to roost

This morning I caught the tale end of the Today programme, do not laugh Davina @ Netimperative ! The Bank of England has agents who go out in to the business community and take a litmus test of what is going on. Being a bar room economist I had to take up their offer and visit them. This was a while back, we had just come out of the media recession. Told them how it was, a few friends in M&A had lost their jobs, as had many interactive people. One of our clients had a tax bill north of € 1 million during a boom year. Told the B of E, they probably did not want to base their economic predictions on what had been, as the environment was changing rapidly.

Now, what was happening in the business community a few years back, has finally caught up with the UK economy, and is treated as a shock arrival. Over dependence on too few sectors, inability to invest in the future, and allowing consumers to live on unnecessary credit is bad, and now the price is being paid. The disdain for manufacturing is bizarre, and the way the rich are feted equally ridiculous. To be a leading nation, the UK needs a balanced economy and society. Not quick fixing. Unless a serious economist gets their hands on the economy, the ‘man on the street’ (as they say), will continue to feel pain. Less spin, more action is now needed.