Trot Along to Socialist Unity's Session with Newsnight's Economics Editor Tonight

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

Trot Along to Socialist Unity's Session with 
Newsnight's Economics Editor Tonight

Newsnight's Paul Mason managed, as some noted last night, to analyse previous economic downturns by going from Barber (Tory) to Howe (Tory) but skipping Callaghan (Labour) when Britain had to get an emergency bailout from the IMF.

It does seem odd to have a Trotskyite sympathiser as the business reporter on the BBC's flagship news and current affairs show. It is all very well him briefing his comrades tonight on "The Recession - What does it mean for us?" (Suspect it will mean that capitalism is in terminal crisis since it has always been according to the Trots who sell newspapers).

Guido just wishes Comrade Mason would concentrate less on supporting the workers revolution and more on making sure that Newsnight manages to reliably report whether the FTSE is up or down on the day. How hard can that be?

Not Much of a Stimulus Package

Guido has never met a tax cut he hasn't liked, so the stamp duty holiday is welcome, but why not make it permanent? The £175,000 limit means it is not going to apply to anyone in the South East or for that matter anyone wanting a family home up north. So not really going to help many hard working families is it? Why not raise the threshold up to £250,000 or even £500,000 for a year?

The sale-and-rent-back scheme will apply to only 6,000 home owners in danger of being repossessed. That is fewer than the government-owned bank Northern Rock will probably repossess this year...