Pathetic Politicians

Most of the leading members of the British political class have studied Economics.

This does not help them to do their job even adequately. The theory that they have been taught has been the basis on which misconstrued and ruinous policies have been pursued in the UK for longer than their lifetimes.

Take the most obvious item of economic data, which is presented as the touchstone of Cameron's and [even more so] of Gideon Osborne's asserted 'success' in office: the claim that 'economic growth' is good for the country. The growth consists of both consumers and the government borrowing money to fund purchases of imports. Sales of imports have grown, and more people  have been employed distributing and selling imports to each other, wearing imported clothing and eating imported food. Millions of them wash in water that is delivered to them by foreign-owned companies who can export any profits the supplier can make. The water is heated by foreign-owned gas and electricity supplies. A huge proportion of the branded goods that they buy - of familiar things like HP sauce and Sarson's vinegar - are foreign owned; so the net profit of those sales is allocable according the the interests of foreign firms. It has been reported as quite a coup for the government's propaganda war on 'tax evasion' that Starbucks [brilliantly branded, horrible coffee] has finally admitted to the attainment of a tiny profit on the turnover of their UK outlets which can be taxed before the bulk of the actual profit is allocated via Luxembourg to the greater expansion and profit of the firm outside the UK.

A rigorous examination of the British economy produces hundreds of thousands of incidents of expanding turnover taking net profits out of the UK; and fewer and fewer examples of profits flowing the other way, year on year, as the government welcomes 'investment' in the form of alien takeover of yet more British firms. This has been an alarming process.

The only positive way in which an economy can grow is by both indigenous and foreign investors putting their capital into activities in the country concerned, and then continually reinvesting the bulk of the profits that accrue to successful activity in further development of productive potential in the country, Britain has been growing negatively - by selling its profit-generating assets - for the past three generations. As a result, a majority of the population have become, in the true sense, paupers: people whose livelihood depends on state handouts as state pensioners, benefit recipients or as members of households that receive some sort of income supplement. And, of course, more and more of the handouts are borrowed by the government, in defiance of what the government wants to happen.

No member of the political class has confessed to this reality as they shape up for a fatuous battle of slogans in the coming election. Most people would love to be members of really 'hard-working families' whose work generates profits and investment for the British economy: but none of the buffoons offers them the means of achieving that simple objective.

This is the national tragedy..