Does the government of the day really control the direction of the UK economy?
As we enter what is becoming a serious downtrend in the UK economy many people are starting to ask whether the government of the day really do have control over the direction of the UK as a whole. While undoubtedly there have been mistakes made by the government, the onset of the credit crunch and collapse of the property market has not helped what was already a difficult situation. But could the government have really made a difference?
The simple answer is yes. The UK economy over the last decade has been built on debt and property investment with everything else a side-effect of these two issues. As people made more from their property investments and were able to access greater debt this encouraged consumer spending which led to increased economic activity, higher employment and a general feelgood factor.
The problem with building an economy on such a foundation is the fact that once the debt issue is taken away and finance is no longer easily obtainable the rest literally falls like a pack of cards. The credit crunch has magnified the impact but in reality the situation has been evolving for some time.
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