Businesses should work harder

Lack of growth in the UK not our fault says the government - businesses should work harder. William Hague states that

“I think they should be getting on with the task of creating more of those jobs and more of those exports, rather than complaining about it."

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond stated that

"Large businesses are sitting on a pretty large pile of cash,[...] What we have got to try and do is persuade businesses to take the plunge, to just use some of their cash pile, to take a judgment about where demand is going, where the economy is going in the future, and be prepared to back their judgment with investment in British jobs and capacity in the British economy."

Yep ignore the case that such large businesses are mostly banks who are still piling money into the stock markets so that there is a lack of direct investment into businesses so they can create "more jobs" and "exports".

Ignore the case that no one is going to take the plunge because the public don't have any money. I'm not going to build a house or business unit unless I know there's a buyer lined up. I can't start churning out some new products for export unless I can get an start-up loan to fund it which requires me to show that I'm already selling the products I can't yet make and do so cheaper than foreign competitors.

It's not a case of "working a bit harder" as Eric Pickles claims; the growth needs to be there first so businesses can move into it.

Fuel costs are up meaning it's more expensive to transport goods; the pound is still strong against most other currencies making it more expensive to export; the majority of goods are 20% more expensive than they need to be; and the government says 'Not our fault'.

The government needs to prime the pump. They need to start leaning on the banks we own to divest some of our money into the community; they need to alter the current tax rates on new buildings to encourage more building; they need to alter fuel tax and take a much better look at the transport infrastructure of this country. At the very least they need to start employing the unemployed directly - after all the government is already paying them - why not pay them to do some work?

But no our current (and yes our previous) government are all for reducing state interference and letting the market decide. Well shock news for them - the market has decided and this is the result; you know the one you're all complaining about.