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Do not rush to switch off the life support
Robert Skidelsky and Marcus Miller
Financial Times
| Thursday, March 04, 2010
The fragility of the British economy in face of the Great Recession demands a rethinking not just of macroeconomic policy, but of the balance between consumption and investment, between finance and industry. In response to this challenge, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, set out a “new economic model” in the annual Mais lecture last week. But there is little evidence of new thinking. There is no reference, for example, to what one might learn from the experience of Japan, which faced a similar “balance sheet recession” in the 1990s. Mr Osborne harks back to the old view that government is the problem not the solution – a philosophy ...
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NEWS
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Lord Skidelsky was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Rome Tre, in the presence of the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. At the same ceremony, he was also appointed a Knight of the Grand Cross ( Cavaliere di gran Croce), which is the highest decoration within the President’s gift.
Lord Skidelsky has recently been at the heart of a lively debate in the UK's national media among economists, discussing the best way to tackle the national deficit, which has ballooned. The debate has created a schism in the profession, with some economists backing the Conservative Party’s view that fiscal tightening should begin this ...
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The Big Bank Fix
Robert Skidelsky
Project Syndicate
| Monday, February 22, 2010
Two alternative approaches dominate current discussions about banking reform: break-up and regulation. The debate goes back to the early days of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” which pitted “trust-busters” against regulators.
In banking, the trust-busters won the day with the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which divorced commercial banking from investment banking and guaranteed bank deposits. With the gradual dismantling of Glass-Steagall, and its final repeal in 1999, bankers triumphed over both the busters and the regulators, while maintaining deposit insurance for the commercial banks. It was this largely unregulated ...
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Letter to the Financial Times: First priority must be to restore robust growth
Robert Skidelsky and others
Financial Times
| Thursday, February 18, 2010
Sir, In their letter to The Sunday Times of February 14, Professor Tim Besley and 19 co-signatories called for an accelerated programme of fiscal consolidation. We believe they are wrong.
There is no disagreement that fiscal consolidation will be necessary to put UK public finances back on a sustainable basis. But the timing of the measures should depend on the strength of the recovery. The Treasury has committed itself to more than halving the budget deficit by 2013-14, with most of the consolidation taking place when recovery is firmly established. In urging a faster pace of deficit reduction to reassure the financial markets, the ...
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House of Lords Debate: Fiscal Responsibility Bill - Second Reading
Robert Skidelsky
Hansard column: 748-750
| Wednesday, February 10, 2010
My Lords, as this is a money Bill, this House cannot amend it, but I shall discuss the motives and principles underlying it. My speech will not give satisfaction to the two opposing parties, but I hope that, for that reason, it may gain in coherence. As the noble Lord said, we shall see.
The Government are in a bind. The markets are clamouring for retrenchment. On the other hand, the Government know that retrenchment now would be fatal for recovery. This rather feeble measure is the result. It reminds me of nothing so much as the optimistic promises that I used to make to my bank manager when he called me to ask what I intended to do ...
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