The brilliant economist Ewen Stewart of Arden Partners sadly shows we are going the way of Greece, not Ireland:
We call the UK the ‘tixylix society’ after the sugary-sweet medicine used to mask the symptoms of a chill in young children. The nation has become lethargic on easy credit asset inflation and delusory levels of public sector debt. The choice ahead is essentially political, although not party political. We can either choose the Irish option of austerity but maintain bond market support and a platform for longer-term growth, through regained competitiveness and a reversal of the trend to crowd out the private sector, or this tixylix society can continue to pretend that there is not a problem and we can spend beyond our means. The consequences of this latter option could well prove catastrophic.
Read the full report.
