It was interesting to hear Ed Milliband declare that Labour had not, after all, ended the boom and bust cycle, as his predecessor Gordon Brown had so often claimed. In doing so, he seems to have consigned many of the things he supported when in government to the history books.
This is often the first thing a new chief executive does when taking over — they clear out all the dodgy stuff and put the blame on the predecessor.
It is the other CEO, David Cameron, however, who has to strike a balance between a crushing austerity programme, blaming Labour, and ensuring that there is sufficient motivation in our boardrooms, offices, sites and factories for us to keep plugging away.
It’s no small task. The Irish government has just announced its fourth austerity budget as the full extent of the bank bail-out becomes known. That is going to lead to some difficult times for many years to come as the Celtic Tiger now looks more like a dead cat.
Judging by the leaks and revelations in the lead up to the Comprehensive Spending Review, one might expect the worst. Things must be bad if a Conservative-led coalition seems to be at the point of reducing the armed forces to the equivalent of a scout troop. How much of it represents real proposals and how much is just a game to make the actual proposals look less bad we will only know when the review is published. I guess there will be some redefinitions as to what is public sector and what is not — in other words, Cameron will want to play with the balance sheet.
What is clear, however, is that the uncertainty is beginning to unnerve many, creating a sort of paralysis. In Europe there have been protests at the proposed austerity measures being adopted there. People there feel the fault is all down to the bankers and the bankers, not the people, should pay the price.
But the bankers and the banks were not the problem. The real problem was poor government, borrowing recklessly and allowing the rest of us to do the same. Control and supervision of the banking community is a government matter, and governments failed in that respect.
As it is, most of those at the centre of the shambles have gone, be they bankers or politicians. The rest of us have to pick up the pieces. Let’s hope the new CEO gets the balance right.
