The past week of electioneering and the unemployment figures released midweek by the Office of National Statistics, paint a gloomy future for many currently employed in the Public Sector and jobs that rely on Government Funding.
Whatever the outcome of the General Election on May 6th, there is risk in all the policies pursued and in the unlikely event of the Conservative Party winning an overall majority, six billion pounds of spending cuts would put thousands of public sector, particularly those in the health service, jobs at risk.
We are currently in the trough of the deepest recession since the Conservatives led us into the Thatcher generated trough of the early Eighites, and the Boom Bust Major recession of the early Nineties.
Recessions are basically measured by the level of output of a nation, it’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP. Output is of course affected by demand which in turn is controlled by Government and monetary policy. When output falls we are in a recession.
The difference with the current recession is that it is not a result of a mismanaged economy or poor government strategy as with previous Conservative led recessions, moreover it is the result of a collapse of a mismanaged global banking system.
The above graph demonstrates that although we are in the deepest output recession since the 1930′s, unemployment has remained relatively low up until now. This is because the current recession is a credit led recesssion where demand has been as artificially curtailed by the banking system as it was as artificially created for the housing market. Overall the state of the economy was fairly healthy!
The graph also shows that the effects of quantitive easing are working in keeping employment stable and the difference between the current stable levels of unemployment and those suffered under Thatcher in the 1980′s is the difference in levels that we should expect if the Conservatives are returned to power in May.
And who is going to pay for all this unecessary unemployment?
There is no North Sea oil revenue to squander on dole queues like under Thatcher, and no new information revolution coming to help as happened to Major!
Furthermore, the largest national debt in history created by the policies of quantitive easing, is not a sinkhole to be used as a political football.
Where has all the money gone?
Quite simply into the coffers of Northern Rock, Lloyds TSB Bank of Scotland and RBS to keep them afloat.
I for one am sick to death of hearing about job cuts and job taxes when it’s quite clear that it should be the Banks paying back the money they’ve borrowed and not profiteering off of the futures of Government bonds used to bail THEM out!
A hung parliament, the most likely outcome, will surely exacerbate the underlying trends in unemployment and it would be very prudent if you work for the Government, Civil Service, Armed Forces or Health Sector to get some private unemployment insurance in place now before the cuts start happening. Unemployment Insurance is simple to purchase online, just enter your age and the amount of cover you want to get a quote; and it will provide you with peace of mind and protect your family, income and lifestyle for a few pounds per month, no matter which colour is flying over Whitehall in May!