Mystic Cable

The Mystic Meg of the financial crisis, Vince Cable, on Radio 4 this morning, described the economy as having had a heart attack. A financial analyst said we were climbing out of hole. Two very different metaphors. The analyst saying that the economy will continue but only with great difficulty, Mystic Cable saying that the economy and essentially capitalism is at the end of it's days. According to The Office for National Statistics, the UK economy, in the first quarter, contracted by 2.4%, figures not seen for 51 years. Any talk of green shoots, will have to outdo Mystic Cable as Lloyds TSB announces job cuts of 2,100 and Corus, the steelmaker, 2,000 jobs. Like the government's attitude to ID cards, it is a pretence to think that economic troubles are off the agenda.