Industry | 2010.01.29
Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond: rebalancing required
Philip Hammond , Shadow chief secretary to the treasury, was interviewed on Tuesday\'s The World Tonight. What did he propose for getting the economy growing again? He said ( from around 12:45 ) that first we must cut the deficit, second, increase credit flow and then:
Beyond that, we have to re-balance our economy away from the over-dependence of the past on financial services, public spending and the property market, with more emphasis on manufacturing and non-financial services so that we grow a more diverse economy.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, heaped scorn on The Observer\'s Will Hutton during an exchange of letters published last Sunday :
An international accord should oblige the banks to insure themselves against the consequences of their risk-taking. We must somehow end this implicit taxpayer guarantee that makes the current bonus round so outrageous. But if I read your letter correctly, that is not enough for you. Oh no. You want to go further. You actually want to "rebalance" the British economy by an unspecified process of shrinking or pruning the financial services industry. You want a "more diversified" London economy. This may or may not be a good thing, but I am not sure how you achieve it.
Time, perhaps, for Philip and Boris to have a little talk.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblo[...]ing-economy-financial-services
