Tuesday, February 23, 2010

U.K. Follows Keynesian Prescription to the Max. Here are the Results: a Stagnant Economy, Crippling Budget Deficit, Rising Prices

The U.K. is the poster child for Keynesian stupidity carried out to extreme levels. In an extremely well written article, Matthew Lynn, a Bloomberg columnist discusses the sorry state of British affairs in Deathbed of Keynesian Economics Will Be in U.K. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... t.xQdllnbo

The U.K. has produced notable economists over the years, but John Maynard Keynes, the guru of government intervention, was one of truly global significance.

So it may be fitting that the U.K. will also become the deathbed of Keynesian economics.

Britain has been following the mainstream prescriptions of his followers more than any developed nation. It has cut interest rates, pumped up government spending, printed money like crazy, and nationalized almost half the banking industry.

Short of digging Karl Marx out of his London grave, and putting him in charge, it is hard to see how the state could get more involved in the economy.

The results will be dire. The economy is flat on its back, unemployment is rising, the pound is sinking, and the bond markets are bracketing the country with Greece and Portugal in the category marked “bankruptcy imminent.â€