Recession denial

Recession deniers should shut up as down we continue to go

David Blanchflower makes the case for an immediate increase in public investment in building.

The drop in gross domestic product of 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 was greeted with incredulity by those who have been saying for months that the UK is not in a double dipper when we obviously are. Business and consumer confidence and lots of other measures have been in recession territory for a year. The latest industrial production figures suggest only a small upward revision. The economy shrank in five of the past six quarters, including all of the past three. GDP is now lower than it was when George Osborne became Chancellor in 2010. It’s time for the recession deniers to shut up. Read more >