Even Barack Obama understands that there is a need for deficit reduction and maybe even tax cuts, any chance of Gordon Brown twigging this?

The Guardian report that:

"Barack Obama has warned that the US economy could head into a “double-dip recession” unless urgent steps were taken to rein back America’s mounting levels of public debt.

With the US unemployment rate now running at 10.2 per cent, the President said his administration faced a delicate balance of trying to boost the economy and spur job creation while bringing the rising deficit and debt under control.

“I think it is important though to recognise that if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the US economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession.”

“One of the trickiest things we’re doing right now, is to on the one hand make sure the recovery is supported and not withdraw a lot of money either with tax increases or big spending ... at the same time, making sure that we’re setting up a pathway long term for deficit reduction,” he said. “It’s about as hard of a play as there is.

...

Mr Obama said that his administration is weighing tax breaks that could encourage businesses to begin hiring again.

“There may be some tax provisions that can encourage businesses to hire sooner rather than sitting on the sidelines. So we’re taking a look at those,” he said.
"

Meanwhile Société Générale, the French Bank, warned in a report entitled Worst-case debt scenario that current debt national levels, run up as a direct result of state stimulus packages, risked creating another crisis.

The underlying debt burden is greater than it was after the Second World War, when nominal levels looked similar. Ageing populations will make it harder to erode debt through growth. "High public debt looks entirely unsustainable in the long run. We have almost reached a point of no return for government debt," it said.


Depressed, you bloody well should be; the west's economies are shot to pieces and those of us in work, over the age of 40 and under the age of 70, will be paying off the debt for the rest of our working lives.