Comments on: Our growth fixation is positively baffling

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:31:21 +0000

Please could you provide a link to the ONS press release.

By: Joe Otten

Joe Otten — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:59:14 +0000

It seems very difficult to reconcile the growing public sector with the criticism of the government from some quarters that austerity has come too far and fast, and that this is adding to our problems.

How can austerity have gone too far and not really have started yet?

By: Henry

Henry — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:51:45 +0000

Tim, what if – in order to kill unemployment – we shared what work there was around, and the length of an individual’s working week was adapted accordingly?

I haven’t given it much more thought than that. What problems might there be?

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:48:27 +0000

What a remarkable ability to interpret what you read as confirmation of a previously held opinion, regardless of what it actually said I believe the article is arguing the frivolity of fixating on the crossover from positive to negative in the growth figure, rather than dismissing the importance of growth altogether!

By: Neil Reynolds

Neil Reynolds — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:41:36 +0000

Very interesting analysis, the political rather than economic effects are clearly more important part of these figures. However zero or just under zero growth will mean a reduction in employment (or a shift from full to part time work or combination thereof). Hard times (are still) in front of us..

By: Michael MacMahon

Michael MacMahon — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:58:24 +0000

Thank you thank you thank you. The growth fixation is indeed baffling and it’s good to hear someone with your credibility saying this.

GDP anyway is not a wonderful measure and, as you say, the figures are provisional.

You summarised beautifully: “ONS produced an early and uncertain estimate that the economy was two-thousandths smaller at the end of March than it had been at the end of December. If the ONS had instead guessed that the economy had been two-thousandths bigger at the end of March, I hardly think we’d all be dancing in the streets.”

With your permission, I shall quote this in my own blog.