Economic Confidential

Things tend to slip out, despite the best attempts of governments to prevent it. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4641381.ece London Times Online The government was plunged into turmoil yesterday as the chancellor admitted the full scale of Britain’s economic crisis. Downing Street and the Treasury launched a desperate damage limitation exercise after Alistair Darling declared that Britain was facing “arguably the worst” slump in 60 years. As Treasury aides claimed that he had been misrepresented, Darling took to the airwaves to clarify his remarks. However, instead of reassuring voters, the chancellor risked compounding the crisis by failing to modify his dire assessment. Darling insisted it was his duty to be “straight” with people. His warning that the slump will be “more profound and long-lasting than people thought” comes at the worst time for Gordon Brown as he struggles to shore up his leadership. Certainly the UK is not the USA, but in the present globalized world, they are inextricably interconnected. So just as George W. sez that the economy is on the upswing, based on random fluctuations of straws at which he always grasps, the UK thinks everything will be...at best...something resembling the years following the Depression and WW II.