How did the situation in the UK get so bad?
While we hear about the doom and gloom surrounding the worldwide economy many people at home are wondering just how a once prosperous UK economy has fallen so sharply leaving many companies and people destitute. The once proud housing market is literally on its knees, the stock market is more volatile than ever before and the ruling Labour Party appear hellbent on fighting amongst themselves.
A quick look back to the Tony Blair era, whether you were a fan or not, seems so very very long ago with the UK economy then prosperous, property prices buoyant and consumer spending on the up and up. However, when you consider that Gordon Brown was Chancellor at the time, and the major changes which he has instigated during his tenure, the signs were there many years ago that the UK economy was far too reliant on property and debt.
There were many at the time who suggested this was the case but like so many who disagreed they were disregarded as politically motivated attacks. However, many of these experts can now look back and remind the politicians of the warnings they gave and the reasons they suggested. Whether we would be in as difficult a situation as we are now without the credit crunch is debatable but the signs have been there for some time that all was not well in the UK economy.
Perhaps Gordon Brown's boast of beating the "boom and bust cycle" was the beginning of the end for the UK economy.
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