Anatole Kaletsky of The Times, one of the most senior economic editors over here, and as right-wing as they come, surprised me this morning with what he has to say about the American administration. The following is a small portion from his "Economic View":
<<<< . . . . Navigating the world economy and financial markets through the present troubled period will require the right policies. At a minimum it will require America and Britain to maintain the growth of consumer demand in the face of declining economic confidence and possible military setbacks. . . . . Unfortunately, President Bush is determined to legislate permanent tax cuts for the very rich, which will greatly increase budget deficits while doing nothing in the short term to stimulate consumer demand. Unfortunately, this is all too typical of the incompetence and policy chaos which seems to have reigned in Washington since Mr Bush came to power. Washington's inability to hold together an international coalition was not an isolated event. It was typical of a generalised incompetence which augurs badly for the global economy in the months ahead. If anything, President Bush has been even more erratic in his economic than in his diplomatic management, for example, when he imposed tariffs on steel imports a year ago; when he abruptly sacked his entire economic team without even preparing any replacements; and when he proposed manifestly partisan tax policies which would do nothing to stimulate demand while hugely increasing long-term budget deficits. Until last month it was possible to imagine that these were mere random mis-steps, partly attributable to a lack of focus from the top decision-makers in the White House. It is now clear, however, that the quality of decisions in Washington only deteriorates further the nearer it gets to the top. In the short term, therefore, it is hard to be very optimistic about the management of the US or world economics,even if we assume a reasonably benign outcome for the war. . . . >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
