Good management means that over your period of management you do not spend more than you earn. Except in national emergencies good governments should not borrow money that must be repaid by future generations. Which governments left future generations to pay the bills?
The data for government borrowing and government expenditure are available (see for instance UK Government Spending). These are shown on the chart below:
The chart shows the increase and decrease of public spending and borrowing by each government in the UK since 1923, changes in debt are measured in 2005 pounds (ie: inflation adjusted).
The actual value of the changes in National Debt is shown because the total National Debt represents an amount that we are spending now that we are asking our children to repay later. Increasing National Debt is acceptable in times of true National emergency but amounts to no more than buying votes in ordinary circumstances. The ideal level of National Debt is zero over a whole cycle: a government should borrow to restore high levels of employment during a dip in the cycle and should repay the loan in the good times that should follow.
The figures for the Coalition that ruled from 1935 through the war and of the Labour government after the Second War have been omitted because of the special circumstances that prevailed. It could also be argued that the credit crunch has given an erroneous portrayal of the last Labour Government even though this Labour Government was probably largely responsible for the global credit crunch. The graph below uses debt levels up to 2008 so shows the data with the debts due to the credit crunch omitted:
This chart is not really valid because Brown probably caused the global credit crunch.
The governments of the sixties and seventies were busy paying off debt (largely accumulated in the war). One of the most prudent governments in British history is the Tory government of the 1950s-60s: they paid off debt and kept public spending under control. It is ironic that Heath's Tory government was the biggest public sector spender during the 60s and 70s but he was paying off debts as well. Callaghan's Labour government was one of the most prudent but for being prudent it was assassinated by the unions. Blair and Brown hold the all-time public spending record and have left our children to pay for it.
It is clear from the graphs that John Major's Tory government and Blair and Brown's Labour governments are easily the worst in the past century. Major's government was particularly affected by the fiasco of attempting to enter the euro-zone but at least they tried to keep spending under control. Almost all of the public sector savings in the Tory period from 1979-1997 were made during the 1980s when Thatcher was PM and frittered away by Major afterwards. Brown's government was just profligate, increasing spending beyond the limits of the funds available and living beyond our means without any attempt at controlling public spending. They increased the National Debt even when the economic cycle was in an upturn. It should be noted that the public sector pension crisis is not included in the figures and is as serious as the credit crunch. The pension crisis occurred almost entirely during the 1997-2010 Labour administration. It should also be noted that about 30% of the current excess debt that is crippling the UK had nothing to do with the credit crunch and was part of a rise in indebtedness dating from 2003.
Brown's mantra was "prudence" and making the books balance over the economic cycle. He did neither of these things and has left the nation's finances in a parlous state. This failure has not, as usual, been spotted by journalists.
Blair and Brown, especially Brown, ran the worst government of the past century. We are paying for it now, they could have saved in the boom like the Germans but no, they spent everything until there was nothing left. Worst of all they increased public spending and ignored the pension crisis as well as getting into debt so that any government that follows them must decrease the public sector and meet a deluge of strikes and protest.
Brown's cunning ploy was to artificially boost property values by allowing vast levels of immigration, this then created an artificial boost in GDP which he used to hide his excessive borrowing by quoting it as a % of GDP (See Immigration, house prices and boom economics). The guy seems to have been a crook.
See also:
Is Labour any more than the Public Sector party?
The data for government borrowing and government expenditure are available (see for instance UK Government Spending). These are shown on the chart below:
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| Click on chart to view full size |
The chart shows the increase and decrease of public spending and borrowing by each government in the UK since 1923, changes in debt are measured in 2005 pounds (ie: inflation adjusted).
The actual value of the changes in National Debt is shown because the total National Debt represents an amount that we are spending now that we are asking our children to repay later. Increasing National Debt is acceptable in times of true National emergency but amounts to no more than buying votes in ordinary circumstances. The ideal level of National Debt is zero over a whole cycle: a government should borrow to restore high levels of employment during a dip in the cycle and should repay the loan in the good times that should follow.
The figures for the Coalition that ruled from 1935 through the war and of the Labour government after the Second War have been omitted because of the special circumstances that prevailed. It could also be argued that the credit crunch has given an erroneous portrayal of the last Labour Government even though this Labour Government was probably largely responsible for the global credit crunch. The graph below uses debt levels up to 2008 so shows the data with the debts due to the credit crunch omitted:
This chart is not really valid because Brown probably caused the global credit crunch.
The governments of the sixties and seventies were busy paying off debt (largely accumulated in the war). One of the most prudent governments in British history is the Tory government of the 1950s-60s: they paid off debt and kept public spending under control. It is ironic that Heath's Tory government was the biggest public sector spender during the 60s and 70s but he was paying off debts as well. Callaghan's Labour government was one of the most prudent but for being prudent it was assassinated by the unions. Blair and Brown hold the all-time public spending record and have left our children to pay for it.
It is clear from the graphs that John Major's Tory government and Blair and Brown's Labour governments are easily the worst in the past century. Major's government was particularly affected by the fiasco of attempting to enter the euro-zone but at least they tried to keep spending under control. Almost all of the public sector savings in the Tory period from 1979-1997 were made during the 1980s when Thatcher was PM and frittered away by Major afterwards. Brown's government was just profligate, increasing spending beyond the limits of the funds available and living beyond our means without any attempt at controlling public spending. They increased the National Debt even when the economic cycle was in an upturn. It should be noted that the public sector pension crisis is not included in the figures and is as serious as the credit crunch. The pension crisis occurred almost entirely during the 1997-2010 Labour administration. It should also be noted that about 30% of the current excess debt that is crippling the UK had nothing to do with the credit crunch and was part of a rise in indebtedness dating from 2003.
Brown's mantra was "prudence" and making the books balance over the economic cycle. He did neither of these things and has left the nation's finances in a parlous state. This failure has not, as usual, been spotted by journalists.
Blair and Brown, especially Brown, ran the worst government of the past century. We are paying for it now, they could have saved in the boom like the Germans but no, they spent everything until there was nothing left. Worst of all they increased public spending and ignored the pension crisis as well as getting into debt so that any government that follows them must decrease the public sector and meet a deluge of strikes and protest.
Brown's cunning ploy was to artificially boost property values by allowing vast levels of immigration, this then created an artificial boost in GDP which he used to hide his excessive borrowing by quoting it as a % of GDP (See Immigration, house prices and boom economics). The guy seems to have been a crook.
See also:
Is Labour any more than the Public Sector party?
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