Rapid Responses
The West’s demise
[Re: The East is getting rich and working harder than the waning West, yesterday]
Douglas McWilliams paints a worrying picture. He is right – the success of Hong Kong and Singapore are a sign of things to come across Asia. But how to deal with the root cause of our malaise – social democratic policies that have prioritised leisure over hard work? If figures from the Transatlantic Trends survey are correct, we’ll have a nearly impossible task on our hands. Unlike nearly every other Western developed economy, more British people wanted to increase government spending than wanted to cut it. The situation is not made easier by the government claiming it’s making big cuts when it’s not.
Adam Hunt
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Britain unchained
[Re: We need chutzpah as well as cuts to restore British competitiveness, yesterday]
Dominic Raab spoils a good article about what Britain must do to regain its competitivness by being soft on the coalition. He’s wrong – the government is not doing enough to cut the deficit. It has not dealt seriously, yet, with red tape. I admire his positivity about Britain’s future, but I don’t see how we can regain our economic strength by abolishing a few government departments.
Charlie Taylor
Raab’s description of Israeli methods of financing innovation is interesting. I hope he’ll put his thoughts into practice by rebelling against Vince Cable’s business bank.
Richard Marcus
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TOP TWEETS
The BAE merger may reflect an impending drop in profits, and the abject failure of the government to back the defence industry.
@clivehollick
A massive defence company will result from a BAE-EADS merger. Basically, the UK will be completely dependent on it.
@andreimuri
EADS-BAE merger? If consolidating a supply base meant value for money, you’d think we might have achieved it over the past 30 years.
@DouglasCarswell
The run on Northern Rock was five years ago. It was a defining moment, but the penny has yet to drop. Our society is bust.
@HibbertMatthew