Brown's Billions and the Brits
Friday, 10 October 2008
Isn't it fascinating seeing how the reaction to Gordon Brown's bailout is being received out there? First of all, it seems to have been given almost unanimous praise from the economic experts and the media, but maybe that's not entirely surprising, after all it's a pretty sound plan.
More interesting is the public's reaction. So far on the Vox Pops there seems to be a general frustration that we have to face a large potential liability because of the banks mistakes but no backlash against the government for issuing the plan.
Could it be because there was cross-party support. Whilst in the US the hierarchy of both parties supported it there was a lot of angry representatives on both sides, this time everyone seems to be very much on-message. Then again on the Daily Politics after PMQ's they were saying that the BBC had received barreloads of emails asking why nobody was challenging the plan so maybe it's not all grudging acceptance.
Also our MP's are aren't facing immediate re-election so I suppose that could be a reason why there was complete consensus, although I'm not sure. It just doesn't seem to be an issue that really angers people.
Could it be that Brits are simply more able to rationalise what's going on around them than Americans? I remember hearing one person in the States saying they were willing to see both them and their families house being repossessed and really struggle if ti meant the Bankers would lose their jobs; I don't think schadenfreude ever fully got exported to Britain.
Maybe we are just more trusting of our top team. Bush is completely discredited, maybe despite what the Tories and the press say people regard Brown as a trusted guardian of our economy? Maybe people believe he is the only man to lead us through difficult times, certainly if Osbornes performance on newsnight is anything to go by!
Although one dose of cynicism, I'm told that in an Accounting lecture here at Strathclyde the lecturer asked why the Government acted and someone shouted out "to make it seem like they were doing something and to save their own skin!"
Maybe there's still some trust to win!
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1 comments:
There is consensus at present because only the government can actually do anything and the other parties realise that, if they are critical at this stage, it will influence the market for the worse. Brown's little dig at Cameron during PMQs was contrary to this spirit. There will be plenty of time later to go over this intervention and its outcomes, whether it works or not, but this is not the time. There will be further troubles ahead but I think we all realise the cupboard is now bare.
Brown needs to look quickly at how to cut costs. ID cards and other white elephant schemes need to be ditched. We will now be wishing we had never won the Olympics, although land values will have fallen so that may make things slightly easier.
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