UK
Britain is going through a difficult time, when its sustained ability to punch above its weight, economically and diplomatically, is ebbing. The end of irrational exuberance found the country ill at ease with itself, with rising inequalities and unhealthy nationalism, just when it needs to be fleet-footed in recognising that many of the traditional pillars of its strengths have changed. The need is to recognise other supports and partners and find a new common purpose after the pandemic. I live in hope.
doom and gloom, still
I donned my white coat today to present a quarterly economic outlook to our "LEP" which is the uk rediscovering that there is virtue in having business people sort-of help run a city. The main messages were remorselessly gloomy, with the local news picking me up on the fabled north south divide, youth unemployment, reaction to the euro deal and, again, unemployment; and again. They were also taken with the rather more optimistic item I did on our economic advisory panel, another on manchester outperforming the uk, on exports, on growth and then on the over 50s...