Politicians can’t fix our economic woes

The knives are out for the Prime Minister. The world watches as Britain falls into a simultaneous political and economic crisis. Yet commentators in Britain appear to think that this is resolvable. They think that bad politics gave us a bad Budget which has led to economic destabilisation. Clean out the bad politicians, reverse the bad Budget and all will be well.

None of that is true. The reality is that the Budget, however bad, is not the underlying cause of the economic crisis. The Budget merely triggered a crisis which has much deeper roots. It is comparable to a shock that sends a person with chronic heart disease into cardiac arrest. Sacking a few ministers, even a prime minister, will not restore the patient to health.

What is the underlying problem with the British economy? Simply put: due to incredibly high energy costs, Britain can no longer afford to maintain its trade deficit.