2011 June 25 - Guy Fawkes' blog

Saturday, June 25, 2011

+++ Police Getting Tape & Signed Statement from Vicky Pryce +++

Ed Balls Take Note, Obama’s Keynesian Stimulus Has Failed

It seems a long time ago that Will Straw, the former Treasury spin doctor under Gordon Brown now turned blogger and think-tanker, was arguing about the need for the Balls/Brown tax, borrow and spend stimulus plan. The voters and the 2010 general election put paid to that and George Osborne has resisted the calls of Balls (and Will) for more government borrowing to spend on boosting short-term growth. Will Straw argued, citing research by a “progressive” American economist, that spending increases were the most efficient form of deficit spending. The theory can now be tested against the outcome.

Obama did implement a massive $787 billion stimulus programme financed by more borrowing of the kind that Will Straw and Ed Balls still advocate. The chart above shows the results versus the predictions. Unemployment is far higher than the supporters of the “porkulus” projected, higher even than they projected it would be without wasting three-quarters of a trillion dollars. Not since the 1930s has US unemployment been so high for so long. Told you so.

Saturday Seven Up

A couple of blog exclusives this week got followed-up by broadcasters and the Dead-Tree-Press. We revealed that the raging consultant who burst in on Cameron and Clegg during a hospital visit is now on “permanent leave”. Guido spoke with a member of the TV production pool team who was scathing, insisting that they did offer to scrub-up but the senior nurse said there was no need since they weren’t going to touch patients or anything else. He said the consultant was “grandstanding” and a few other more choice words.

A “Westminster village” only story was about the “Sack Gillan” PMQs question planted by Cheryl Gillan. As Greece slides down the euro-pan we took a moment to name the British Europhile “Guilty Men” who would have dragged Britain into the monetary mess, including a young Danny Alexander (pictured), even though he was only a boy at the time. He is now the Treasury Secretary…

Five days after Guido gave a Powerpoint presentation in London to visiting Chinese Communist Party Propagandists, Internal Security officials and Information Ministry bureaucrats (see “Guido’s Advice to the Chinese Communist Party’s Propagandists“) the dissident artist Ai Weiwei was released. Woz It Powerpoint Wot Did It? Guido is far too modest to suggest…

We did ask this week “Why Did Luciana Chuck Her Man, Eh?“ However the most popular story of the week is a year old story which whilst not directly involving Luciana Berger was still relevant to her.

This week 77,945 visitors made 237,152 visits to view 357,720 pages. The top stories last week in order of popularity were:

You’re either in front of Guido, or you are behind…