Davos Cameron

‘The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas’ …or something like that. It’s been running since 1971, and has an annual meeting at Davos in Switzerland - a meeting that David Cameron attended this year, his first attendance as prime minister.

In this capacity Cameron authoritatively mentioned the budget for growth that the government will be announcing in about eight weeks: ‘Those who argue that dealing with our deficit and promoting growth are somehow alternatives are wrong. You cannot put off the first in order to promote the second. Average government debt in the EU is almost eighty per cent of GDP.’ The nice thing about giving a speech is that you can put words into your hypothetical enemies’ mouths, and make those words much easier for yourself to knock down than in real life. What about those who aren’t actually arguing that tackling the deficit and promoting growth are alternatives, but suggest instead that they can solve each other – promoting growth to deal with the deficit?

The coalition’s method is to focus first on reducing the deficit, hopefully with the least amount of damage done to the potential for growth. Of course, while pitching for business interest at Davos it was growth that needed to be sold, rather than deficit reduction. Cameron’s sentences thus came out with the emphasis reversed. His government would prioritise growth through its choice of cuts - welfare is cut to pay for transport, and tax increases focus on what people spend, rather than hiking taxes on jobs. As for Europe, we should all cut back on regulations to small businesses: our entrepreneurs, our lifeblood.

Carefully deployed oxymorons-that-aren’t: budgets for growth, cutting back to invest in innovation – it’s not that Cameron’s saying every cloud has a silver lining, but rather he’s having every cloud labelled: ‘silver lining holder.’ It’s pruning a shrub so that it might grow more vigorously in the next season. Yes, a gardening metaphor for politics and the economy – Chauncey Gardiner and Being There. It’s the same thing: vacant man spouts political nous. Everything has its season, after the winter comes the spring. It’s tough but it will get better. Yes, thanks Dave.

Nick Clegg was in Switzerland too. While Cameron gave the Forum deep cuts, Clegg’s cuts were measured: ‘I understand that people, psychologically, when they hear about it, think it's already happened. The vast majority of cuts haven't been introduced yet... They will be imposed gradually over a four-and-a-half-year period.’ It was all about defending the cuts, and ensuring that we all know how confident the coalition is about sticking to them, and to their economic policy in general. On the Friday Chancellor George Osborne told the Forum that we must ignore the ‘siren voices’ urging against the cuts. This is the same phrase he used about a year ago at the Mais lecture at the Cass Business School, City University London. This at least proves that both Osborne and the sirens have been consistent up to now. Coupled with the cuts is an easing of the tax burden on businesses, or rather a promise to achieve the ‘lowest rates of business taxes in the western world.’ Inspiring stuff, though bare in mind Osborne’s audience at Davos.

The World Economic Forum affirms business, tells it that it does a good job, and that, in doing a more profitable, efficient job for itself, our respective populations will be better off materially and otherwise. Those speaking who are in politics are trying to sell their country’s attractiveness to international leaders in business and finance. Obviously the meeting was slightly more interesting this year because the pep talk and inspiring pro-business sound bites had to be reconciled with the ‘it’s a choppy road to recovery’ and ‘we can’t let bankers off the hook for this mess completely’ policy admissions of each country’s spokespersons. Cameron and Osborne confidently offered several explanations as to how the coalition’s cuts wouldn’t affect new investments or opportunities for business - those routes to successful and safer economies and societies.

This meant addressing the recent news-making finding that the economy contracted by 0.5% in the last three months of 2010. The bad weather was cited; it was the wrong type of Christmas shopper (pansies who stay indoors when it snows), and the recovery was always going to be choppy, as the prime mister said. If the downturn continues, however, the deficit reduction plan might be tweaked slightly, what former George Osborne advisor Ken Rogoff calls a ‘slower plan A.’ Channel 4 News’s Faisal Islam noted that. He interviewed Osborne at Davos on Friday, and pointed out that ‘Osborne is also a bit of an Austerity Pin-up for many Americans here who feel that the US government is not getting to grip with its ballooning deficit.’

In the great gamble on who’s in the right over tackling the economic situation those Americans may well be vindicated in their opinion of Osborne. For the moment, however, the British media use a different view of America to contrast with the coalition’s policies. The US government’s perceived reticence to cut, along with America’s superior growth figures for the close of 2010 prove too tempting to ignore. This from BBC journalist Olivia Lang’s live feed from the Forum on Friday (Lang had just wondered if Cameron’s confidence had rubbed off on US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner): ‘1100: But that's perhaps all he's picking up from Cameron. Making deep cuts in spending, Geithner says, "is not the responsible way" to bring down state deficits.’ Ooh, burn.

Whether or not Cameron, Clegg and Osborne did us proud at Davos remains to be seen. Actually, does anyone really care? Does it matter if our prime minister, deputy prime minister and Chancellor succeed or fail in apologising convincingly enough to the banks (for coming down so hard on them, in regulation and rhetoric, for their part in the economic downturn)? Did they really convince as to how humble and sorry we are for biting the hands that feed and drop us a few crumbs in the process? Did the message get across - that this tough economic climate and jobs market will be that much easier to bear if we know that banks and business are interested in coming to our country in droves, or more likely in unimaginative flat-pack office developments?

I’m sure business is capable of deciding for itself, without any governmental sales pitch, which countries to use or ditch in its operations.

Away from the banks, business and Bono crowd, the World Social Forum’s alternative, alter-globalisation discussions and answers will be heard in February, at Dakar.

You Swinge if You Want to

Shadow chancellor George Osborne gave a speech at the British Museum today. The Conservatives have heeded the calls to clarify their economic policies after they toned down their public spending cuts a couple of days ago. David Cameron told the BBC that no ‘swingeing cuts’ [the interviewer’s words] would be made in 2010/11, while Osborne had promised early cuts. Really this was just a bad choice of phrase in an interview, with others deciding to soup it up to the level of a Conservative crisis. That doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with it though. Certainly something Osborne said the other day is worth picking up on.

Appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, shadow chancellor George Osborne said "early action" was needed on the deficit to avoid a "Greek-style budget crisis".

He insisted that it would be a "mistake" to wait until next year to begin tackling the "albatross of debt", as the government was planning to do [1].h
hl

George and the Albatross of Debt

George was a confident, hardworking little boy. He edited and contributed to the school magazine Nigella, named after the Ancient Egyptian domestic goddess. Despite this talent for writing and his outward contentment, he was always looking up to David Cameraman, or Dave the big C for short.

One day George was walking back to the station following his after-school pedestrian practice when he saw an enormous bird perched on a garden wall. This bird did something rather strange upon seeing George; it spoke to him.

‘George. I am the Albatross of Debt, and I bring you…’
‘Wait!’ Said George excitedly, ‘did you just say the Albatross of Debt? Don’t you mean death?’
The albatross let its wings drop to the floor, slapping the pavement with claps of despair. ‘Look child, if I had meant death I would have said death. But I did not. I’m the physical realization of a metaphor for the nation’s economy.’
‘You just look like an albatross. Where’s the debt?’
‘And just what does debt look like exactly?’
George shrugged, he neither knew nor cared; Blue Peter was on in 20 minutes.
‘You can’t see debt because it’s precisely the thing you don’t have, it’s what you owe.’
‘Couldn’t you be like a newspaper cartoon and have a sash with ‘debt’ written on it or something?’
‘Ah, the sash.’ The Albatross thought for a moment. ‘Well, it blew off me when I was flying in. Landed on a guide dog, so now there’s a guide dog of debt walking around too.’
‘Ok. Nice to meet you.’

With the seabird calling after him George hurried off down a back alley, the likes of which he had never seen before (living—as he did—in a house, a very big house in the country). At least the albatross, with its wingspan of 3-3.5 metres, couldn’t follow him too closely now. ‘Oh I wish David Cameraman were here’ George thought to himself. He started; up ahead in the shadows he could see someone in a hoody and tracky b’s (as the stable boy called them). George slowed. He couldn’t go back, and the person was coming towards him now, hands in pockets—well, George hoped they were pockets; they looked closer in than pockets usually are.

‘Aite.’ The voice was familiar to George.
'Dave Cameraman!'
'Give us a hug, blud.'
‘Dave we can’t go on like this…there’s a talking albatross following me.’
David thought to himself for a moment, ‘ah that’s well easy, just cut off its deficit.’
‘Come here and try it you little twat.’ The albatross twittered from above.
‘That’s a deeply offensive word in some parts!’ George rightly pointed out.
‘Is it?’ David looked thoughtful. ‘Don’t you talk to me like that then. I’ll have you know all that rugby put hairs on my chest.’

It turned out that David’s upturned hood was remarkably good at catching a full load of albatross droppings, and so he ran off home to get changed. Suddenly disenchanted with his idol, George decided to sort things out for himself. He looked up at the seabird.

‘Albatross! From the ashes of the debt boom we will build a saving society. I defeat you with a new economic model for growth, with eight benchmarks:

• To cut the deficit more quickly to safeguard Britain's credit rating.
• To create a more balanced economy.
• To get Britain working.
• To make sure that Britain is open for business.
• To ensure that the whole country shares in rising prosperity.
• To reform public services to deliver better value for money.
• To create a safer banking system that serves the needs of the economy.

We see higher emissions than 1997 - and Britain has just 5% of the global market for green goods and services. So our eighth benchmark is to turn both of these things around. [Britain has just 5% of the global market for green goods and services - and we see higher emissions than 1997?]

These are the Benchmarks for Britain. Judge us by these benchmarks. Hold us to account. We will be accountable [2].

The albatross stared down at George, ‘From the ashes of the debt boom we will build a saving society?’ It appeared to be thinking this over for a moment or so before continuing. ‘Are you trying to say that a phoenix is going to rise from the ashes of an albatross?’

‘Oh shut up’ said George. ‘I’m going home to proof read that.’

Ah nightmares, this thing could run on and on if we let it. Free enterprise is looking noble again it seems—less taxation and stuffy regulation of people that would make us richer if only we let them. We should encourage an innovation nation, support rather than strangle our businesses and welcome foreign investors instead of driving them elsewhere to cheaper lands. Bettering that we could all go into business ourselves. If we all aspire the country will get richer as a result of all our individual successes. Mind you, if absolutely everybody aspired to that Alan Sugary dream there wouldn’t be anybody to serve us at the till when we tried to spend our new wealth. Hooray for employees I say, and I hope George Osborne thinks like that too.

============================================================================
[1] ‘No swingeing cuts in first year, says David Cameron’, BBC, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8490024.stm> 31^st January 2010

[2] George Osborne, ‘A New Economic Model’, Conservatives, <http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2010/02/George_Osborne_A_New_Economic_Model.aspx> 2^nd February 2010