Scott McCallum, meet Gordon Brown. A Wall Street Journal op-ed:
Mr. Brown’s reputation as chancellor of the exchequer was based on strong global growth. But while the world boomed, Mr. Brown spent. Since 2000, Britain has been the second-most profligate country of the 30-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, topped only by South Korea. British public spending since 2000 has risen by 7.7 percentage points of GDP while key EU members such as Germany, Austria, the Nordic countries, Greece and Spain all have managed to hold their spending below the growth of their economies.
These massive transfers from the market to the state have resulted in decelerating productivity growth and a worsening fiscal position. In every budget, Mr. Brown presented borrowing forecasts that were then missed. So every budget he would have to find new ways to tighten the squeeze on the tax base. It couldn’t last.
A story as old as time (well, not really, but you get the point). The economy is good, and a popular incumbent, Tommy Thompson or Tony Blair, is able to ride the good times with greater spending and tax cuts. Then along come bad times, and the money dries up, and the spending commitments are still coming due. In both cases, the incumbent had since extricated himself, and his successor is punished by voters for the deficits. We’ll have to see if Barbara Lawton loses to Scott Walker for similar reasons.
Last 5 posts by Daniel- Suhr on Nixon on Health Care - February 23rd, 2010
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Responding the article you posted– 2010? Not to sound pessimistic but I’m going to predict at least 2012. The state has a lot of trucking companies which pay very well… but are shutting down! In Wausau, Wausau Homes and SNE are shutting down their Van Divisions… approximately 600 jobs for just those two companies. I would imagine Schneider National in Green Bay and other trucking companies will announce layoffs soon. I predict the average income to drop based on the $36,000 in that article.
We have a very federal problem… no one has yet to come out and say we are going to get a handle on our energy problem. After 2004 and 2006 it was just swept aside.