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Economic Failures
burnt_money.jpg New Labour inherited a stabilising economy in 1997, largely thanks to the former Chancellor's relatively recent changes. A generally stable world economy (which Chancellor Gordon Brown claims is thanks to him) allowed the UK economy to generally prosper, with a few minor hiccoughs, until relatively recently. Despite 10 years in the hot seat, and with 11 budgets behind him, however, the economy has steadfastly refused to grow in line with his projections. Early on, he made two decisions which could be regarded as wise moves: Firstly, he committed to retaining the previous Tory administration's spending limits (resisting Labour's natural urge to spend spend spend); and to hand control of interest rates to the "independent" Bank of England. Since 1999, however, Brown's hands were untied, and he's embarked on an ever more dangerous and desperate series of measures and countermeasures to try to keep the economy on the straight and narrow, despite record spending rises.



This section charts the major failures along the way.

 
  • Other Economic Failures  ( 4 items )
    Where a story doesn't fit in with any of the other Economic categories, it will be made to fit here instead.
  • Taxation Failures  ( 4 items )
    Tax is a sore point with pretty much everyone who has to pay it; which is, of course, pretty much everyone. Elections are frequently won or lost on taxation policy. The UK tax system is now one of the most complicated in the world, thanks primarily to the current Chancellor, Gordon Brown. 
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