A Better Bet – Interview With John Moulton
Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by admin in News & Articles
Jon Moulton is not a man to mince his words. Last year he said of the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, “He hastaken no concrete steps to halve the deficit. Instead he’s assuming the economy will grow like some form of advanced weed.” When I reminded him of this and asked how he’d describe it now he replied, “an advanced weed with cancer.” He reckons the chances of Mr Darling’s forecasts for the economy being correct as no more than one in twenty and “he should focus his time on the contrast between his eyebrows and his hair.”
Mr Moulton’s outlook for the UK economy, and the West Midlands specifically, is not particularly heartening.The Stoke On Trent born financier predicts a modest recovery until the election when there will almost certainly be a discontinuity in public spending. “There could be the most severe cuts in
public spending in living memory,” he says, “and that could slow down the economy drastically.” The West Midlands has 27 per cent of its jobs tied up with the public sector and this high dependence means it couldbe affected disproportionately. “Cuts in public sector spending would hit the region very hard indeed,” he warned.
The independent think tank…
