Looks like the economy is back in recession which shows that the Coalition did get it wrong on the economy cutting spending too fast. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17836624

Looks like the economy is back in recession which shows that the Coalition did get it wrong on the economy cutting spending too fast. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17836624

You don't half write some rubbish at times. When a government stops spending it has a huge effect on the economy. Period.

It was only last week it was on the radio that we were in fact likely to avoid a double dip recession because the panic buying of fuel induced by the government had increased economic activity sufficiently to keep the growth figure positive!

I thought then I couldn't believe my ears that they needed this "false" demand in the economy to keep things positive and would no doubt be singing the news from the hills that they had avoided the double dip as a result. As the BBC article points out the extra fuel buying is not in these figures so if they were relying on this false demand in the domestic economy to keep things positive it stands to reason it there wasn't enough demand in the domestic economy without it to avoid a recession. Why is domestic economic activity so weak that it needs panic fuel buying to keep it out of recession? Because things like the construction industry are in recession (as the figures show) and they rely heavily on government contracts.

Demand will weaken further as government policy on benefit cuts come in to force this month and with more job cuts to come.

The idea public spending cuts have not contributed to these figures in a big was is ridiculous.

It also proves (as in that link) that "City Forecasters" are about as good at doing their job of forecasting as my dog is, even on this mornings news bullitens the "city forecasters" were predicting that the country would narrowly avoid recession with growth "predicted" as 0.1%.

I could understand it if they were a smidgen out but they were miles away with their "forecast".

Remember folks, these are the same people who are in charge of your ISA's and pensions.

Brace yourselves for a round of 'we inherited...............................................' from the ConDem MP's

Strange we're lagging behind most other economies as compared to 2008 though?

Says the man who puts 3 full stops at the end of a sentence.

+0.1% or -0.2% doesn't really matter in the real world they don't live in. Both alternatives are crap and show the idea the private sector would step in and drive economic recovery is not happening.

I first heard the panic buying of fuel would keep us out of a recession on the BBC radio 2 drive time business five minutes slot and not once was the economist who stated this asked the obvious questions that isn't it a rather false picture if we have to rely on that to keep us out of recession?

What he did say though was that even if this (false) demand had kept us out of recession it was a good thing because market sentiment was all important. So it seems it doesn't matter how you spin it to avoid recession provided you can kid yourself you are doing so that is all right.

Surely even you can recognise that pay freezes, masive job cuts, and reductions in spending by the Government is going to contribute to squeezed real incomes

Drunk George Osborne on twitter:

"Totally baffled. We've aggressively attacked the disabled, kids, women & the North and we've still gone into recession! It makes no sense!"

Oh, he never does it by halves.

Well I suppose that is one way to admit your original post was indeed rubbish.

They may have contributed but they are not the principal reason.

People have become fixated with public spending being an economic driver. It is not. It is something that can only be done out of the wealth created from other economic activities. It can have a place in simulating construction, etc - but the government are chucking loads of money at building acadamies, etc, etc. Also, through the BoE's QE huge amounts of extra money have been put into the economy.

The real problem, as I said, is more fundamental - debt, falling real incomes, EZ, etc. Until personal debt and fear as to incomes are reduced the problems will persist (with short-term ups and downs along the way). As predicted in 2008 it would take 10 years to sort out and still believe it will (but now I would suggest that is the best outcome). As a country we need to get used to falling living standards due to competition rom the developing world. People talk about British companies not investing - the top UK listed companies do invest but not much in the UK - because returns are smaller here than on a factory in a deveolping country.