Biggest Debts Show 'Competent Financial Management': claim

Ian Dale, a most readable centre right Blogger, but sensible with it, writes Ian Dale’s Diary HERE:

Today he asks a question that bothers me too:

“Bemusing Economic Questions of Our Time: No 94

If the UK economy is best placed to withstand the economic crisis, can anyone explain this table from last week's Der Spiegel?
Global Financial Injection (billion euros) from Bank guarantees, buying up of bad credit and capital injection)

Great Britain 571
USA 519
Germany 500
Ireland 400
France 360
Holland 220
Russia 139
Austria 100
Spain 100
Switzerland 48
Norway 41
Italy 40
Saudi Arabia 30
Portugal 20

Comment
Government spokespeople may respond that we are the world’s biggest borrowers because the British economy is so strong after ten years of Labour financial management that everybody wants to lend us the money, or some such spin.

The harsh fact remains that our economic ‘management’ has created the need to borrow more than anybody else and the rest of the world’s economic management requires them to borrow less.

As for ‘bringing forward’ public works projects, even if the planning permissions and public enquiries have been completed, they are unlikely to have an impact on the economy for many, many months, possibly years (especially if the planning circusses begin).

Such ideas for policies could be filed under ‘Pending projects; short-term ‘news management’, among the spinners’ filing cabinets.

Hat Tip: Ian Dale