Well I’m certainly no economist but looking at the recently published annual report from HMRC I can see why we’re in a financial mess. During 2008/9 receipts of income tax, VAT and corporation tax – the three highest sources of government of revenue – are down from £155.1bn, £84.9bn and £46.8bn in 2007/2008 respectively to £149.6bn, £78.5bn and £41.8bn. And we all know that government spending is going up in an attempt to spend our way out of recession.
Of course some reduction in VAT receipts was to be expected, as the Chancellor reduced the rate by one-seventh in December. But – and here’s the thing – I’m surprised that the reduction isn’t higher. Even with my simple back of the envelope arithmetical approach to figures (GCSE O Level Grade B in 1976 although I was told off for not getting an A as expected!) I would have expected that with the constant news about the recession, people would be spending even less money than these figures would suggest.
And as always this gets me wondering about the recession and how far we’ve talked ourselves into it. I think it’s one of those situations where if you are in work, you are still spending money albeit a little more cautiously and despite the fact that unemployment is around three million and rising, that still leaves the great majority of the adult population in work. A bit like the swine flu situation, we simply seem to talk ourselves stuck right into a hole that seems to be deeper and harder than it really is.
Not that for a moment I’m underestimating the very sad effect of swine flu on those families who have lost loved ones as a result, but we do seem to be very good at talking ourselves into a crisis in this country. Every time I switch on the news, there is more and more doom and gloom about the potential spread of the diseases! And already the news channels are commenting that the panic about swine flu is putting more strain on the NHS than the illness itself! I wonder why???????????
Anyway I’m not sure what sort of weekend you had, but apart from a few nice sunny hours on Saturday afternoon, we remain stuck in this horrible wet and warm weather which is driving me up the wall. The plants are getting greener and greener but despite copious amounts of talking to, they are stuck in green mode and just won’t blossom. We really deserve a break, just a couple of weeks of decent weather so we can feel as though we’ve had a proper summer especially for those of us who aren’t going away this year.
Well I suppose that the lousy weather helps us concentrate on work, so on the basis that the forecast doesn’t show any improvement, I really hope that we all have a busy and productive week ahead!
Marie