Friday, February 19, 2010

Economists Get It Wrong

The dismal "science" of economics has managed to get something wrong again.

This time it has massively underestimated exactly how much in debt the UK economy really is. Economists had expected a January (traditionally a good month for tax receipts) government surplus of about £2.8BN. The reality was in fact a deficit of £4.3BN, the first time since records began in 1993 that the UK was in debt in January.

The Treasury claim that the Government forecasts remain as stated by Darling, namely government borrowing will be £178BN (12.6% of GDP). However, City experts now predict that the debt will overtake the 12.7% recorded by Greece.

Economists are now calling for a more credible plan by the government, to show how it will address this issue.

They should not hold their breath!

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