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US Government has taken a more balanced and steady approach to deficit reduction and have more than recovered all the output lost in the global recession - Ed Balls
27 January 2012
Ed Balls MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, in response to today’s US growth figures which report the US economy is now 0.7% above its pre-crisis peak, while the UK is now 3.8% below, said:
“The US Government has taken a more balanced and steady approach to deficit reduction up to now and they have more than recovered all the output lost in the global recession, while in Britain we are still almost 4% below our pre-crisis peak. And since George Osborne’s spending review in the autumn of 2010 our economy has grown by just 0.3% while the US has grown by 2.2% over the same period.
“While the US growth figures compare favourably to Britain, policymakers in America are rightly concerned and debating what more they can do to boost jobs and growth. Yet here in Britain the Conservative-led government has sent our economy into reverse and is set to borrow £158 billion more than planned, but complacently insist they are going to plough on regardless.
“Of course we need tough decisions on tax, spending and pay, but to get the deficit down we also need to get our economy moving and get people off benefits and into work. David Cameron and George Osborne have eight weeks until the Budget to learn that lesson and change course.”
