What would Mr Cameron have done differently?

[Mecky]

A simple question: If the Tories had been in office at the time of the banking crisis what would they have done differently?

 

Please Tory supporters this is a genuine question, if all you can offer is an insult then don't bother.

 

It's been asked before on many occasions. They can't answer the question and usually end up saying something like, "Well, they weren't in government in 2008 so it doesn't matter what they would've done." TBH it's the kind of answer I'd expect them to say, they are highly predictable to the last.

[mj.scuba]

See the link and tell me which governing party had the highest deficit levels prior to the banking crisis.

 

http://www.gfmag.com/tools/global-database/economic-data/10395-public-deficit-by-country.html#axzz1VZQBVP9j

 

But when you look at a deficit as a % of GDP, then it only becomes a comparitive figure, depending on how well the economy was doing at the time.

 

If you look at the absolute figures, you will see that under Gordon Brown we had record deficits, but as a % of GDP may not have been as high as previous years because it was done during an economic boom period, and there lies the crux of the matter; record deficits (in absolute terms) during an economic boom. You've heard the 'fixing the roof when the sun is shining' saying, well that IS when the sun was shining, but Brown was too busy running up those record deficits instead of paying down national debt.

 

Btw I'm aware that the current government has also just posted a record deficit, I don't defend them on that, I want to see it coming down.

[Titanic99]

But when you look at a deficit as a % of GDP, then it only becomes a comparitive figure, depending on how well the economy was doing at the time.

 

If you look at the absolute figures, you will see that under Gordon Brown we had record deficits, but as a % of GDP may not have been as high as previous years because it was done during an economic boom period, and there lies the crux of the matter; record deficits (in absolute terms) during an economic boom. You've heard the 'fixing the roof when the sun is shining' saying, well that IS when the sun was shining, but Brown was too busy running up those record deficits instead of paying down national debt.

 

Btw I'm aware that the current government has also just posted a record deficit, I don't defend them on that, I want to see it coming down.

 

So which Party was in power during the eighties, when the British economy benefitted from over £55 Billion pounds of revenue from North Sea Oil and still managed to post a deficit?

[mj.scuba]

So which Party was in power during the eighties, when the British economy benefitted from over £55 Billion pounds of revenue from North Sea Oil and still managed to post a deficit?

 

You know the Tories were in power in the eighties so why are you asking?

[ampersand]

Who could know but they may have increased interest rates when the housing boom started like they did last time, this would have slowed the rate of lending, kept house prices affordable and possibly stopped some of the banking problems.

 

That pre-supposes they wouldn't have given the Bank of England the independence to control the base rate - or given it different criteria on what to consider when setting it

[MrSmith]

That pre-supposes they wouldn't have given the Bank of England the independence to control the base rate - or given it different criteria on what to consider when setting it

 

They could have even given the banks the same power but not removed house price inflation from the inflation figures. The consequence would have been higher inflation which the bank could have acted on. We had one of the most important essentials of our life inflating at 20% PA but it wasn’t included in the inflation figures.

[Keith Rich]

Seems to be a consensus that the Nasty Party would have done the same as Labour. Doesn't this show that the 'the mess Labour left us in' brigade are talking nonsense as the Nasties would have done just the same. As has been pointed out Brown had little or no choice but to bail out the banks.

[speedbirdone]

Seems to be a consensus that the Nasty Party would have done the same as Labour. Doesn't this show that the 'the mess Labour left us in' brigade are talking nonsense as the Nasties would have done just the same. As has been pointed out Brown had little or no choice but to bail out the banks.

 

While we can't say for 100% that Cameron would have done the same there is a 99.99% chance in my opinion he would have bailed the banks out.

 

Although if it wasn't for Labours spend spend spend like money was going out of fashion in the 10 years leading up to the banking crisis, maybe just maybe we might have been in a better position to deal with the banking crisis.

[mj.scuba]

Seems to be a consensus that the Nasty Party would have done the same as Labour. Doesn't this show that the 'the mess Labour left us in' brigade are talking nonsense as the Nasties would have done just the same. As has been pointed out Brown had little or no choice but to bail out the banks.

 

Has it not occurred to you that the bank bailouts may not be one of the things the 'mess Labour left us in Brigade' are unhappy with?

[speedbirdone]

Has it not occurred to you that the bank bailouts may not be one of the things the 'mess Labour left us in Brigade' are unhappy with?

 

Ding Ding Ding, you win a prize for giving the correct answer