Hamish McRae writes an excellent article in today’s Independent; reminding us that the Northern Rock debacle pales in comparison to the Government’s mishandling of public finances: “The much more substantial charge is that the Government has mishandled public finances, borrowing far more than it planned, year after year. We are heading into a global downturn, with a bigger fiscal deficit of more than 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. That is bigger than that any other large developed nation. We have a government that spends £11 for every £10 that it receives in taxation, borrowing the balance at higher interest rates than the US, Germany or France. And there is every prospect of our national finances getting worse as our economy slows. Northern Rock is a cock-up; our public finances are a disaster.”
However, I disagree with McRae’s other contention that “nationalisation is … the least bad outcome to this sorry tale”.
There are two particularly strong arguments against fullscale nationalisation.
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