Very thoughtful post which points to the current direction of travel for the economy; the backdrop against which this danse macabre is being played out.
Read the rest at Paul Mason's BBC Blog"What's shaping the debate though is the economic situation, and in the course of the election campaign that's changed. Let me sum up why:
a) We've had the Q1 GDP growth figures - worse than expected and a danger signal of a double dip recession
b) We've had the March unemployment figures: worse than expected and signalling a jobless recovery - with Job Centre Plus performing the sterling service of reducing the claimant count by shunting people onto courses, but negative job creation.
c) Then we had the IFS report - an authoritative demolition job on the fundamentally dishonest way all the parties have tried to mask the cuts they're forced to inflict.
d) Finally the Greek contagion story rocked the markets, and put points a-to-c into a brutal context. This is what happens to countries who do not spell out credible deficit reduction plans and whose politicians delude themselves about future growth."
