Thursday 25 October 2012

The 1%

The 1%

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed a return to growth of 1% over the three months following a 0.4% contraction in GDP in the previous period.
That was higher than analysts had expected and the strongest quarter of GDP growth for five years.


1% is better than nothing. BQ industries and all my known associates can confirm a good October. Much better than it has been. But it is still a slow slog. Margins are small and the inequalities in retail that punish the high street are only getting wider. 
But, green shoots are there. Finally.

So what is the best way to nurture those fragile buds? Cut taxes? Cut business rates {damn right!}
Stop the payroll taxes? Banker tax? Cut rates to zero? Investment in exporters?Do nothing?
Governments rarely get a second chance to correct their errors. Here is a chance. What should the chancellor be planning?


10 comments:

Weekend Yachtsman said...

What should the Chancellor be planning?

Why, all the things that the EU will stop him doing, of course.

Mark Wadsworth said...

If in doubt cut VAT first and then National Insurance.

Ideally, collect the rental value of land instead of collecting taxes from income or output, obviously.

idle said...

The Chancellor should be planning how to spend his years in the wilderness, which will start in May 2015.

I expect he will be a non-attending MP and will write a very long and very boring book about a US President, which almost no one will read.

Sackerson said...

This is "green shoots" rubbish. Wait for the annual figures and remember that Cam & Oz are fighting to keep their jobs.

andrew said...

The government should do absolutely nothing.

Things are quite bad enough already, thanks.

Blue Eyes said...

He should stick to what he was going to do anyway which is to switch a relatively modest amount of the planned public spending envelope from welfare to infrastructure.

Or he should signal that the first tax cuts to be made once the clouds have lifted a bit further will be payroll taxes.

James Higham said...

1% would be better than nothing if it were a true figure, Bill.

Bill Quango MP said...

Weekend Yachtsman: Lets just let the EU do its own Tobin tax. We need do nothing but watch the trades flow into the city. Nothing except figure a way to make sure the banks don't invest it in fairy dust or offshore unicorn farms or sub-prime mortgages.

MW: Agreed. VAT is such a stupid tax. making it 17.5 or 20% makes little difference. making it 10% would be great. Although we would need to scrap all of the military to pay for it.

Idle: Ahh yes. The long awaited Millard Fillmore biography. Riveting.

Sackerson: Don't spoil it with reality. George has very few good days. let him savour it for 24 hours. Oh dear..the Ford news has already broken.

Andrew. Very wise words.

Blue eyes. I do believe that is his plan. if he can get the 'slow, steady competent,' feeling back he may just stop Miliband from having a majority.
well..maybe.

Bill Quango MP said...

JH: Yes, yes. We know our readers are too mature to swallow the one swallow/summer spin. But it has been better. Until this week where its slowed again,

Timbo614 said...

I see Mr Market is not impressed up 0.01% which just happens to match.

Slash VAT - don't cut it! Sod the EU rules on 15% minimum - many people seem to have forgotten that VAT came in initially at 8%