Friday, September 14, 2007

Crisis, What Crisis ? : The Economy, Stupid !

I very much hope that the relocation of Sybil the Cat from Edinburgh to Downing Street heralds a more robust approach to government policy. The fact is that much of the economy has been poorly regulated for too long. Indeed a decline in the standards of economic regulation probably co-incided with the departure of Humphrey the Cat from No 10 early on in the New Labour regime. Now that things have really hit a rocky patch - yes, I'm talking about the finances of Northern Rock - we need rather more substance in the work of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other government departments. After all, this is the first time a British financial institution has needed to be rescued by the Bank of England since the 1970s. As for those politicians and commentators who maintain "Crisis, What Crisis ?", the response must surely be : "The Economy, Stupid !".