The end is nigh ... yay!

Well it could finally be happening, it looks like the slowdown is finally here. David Cameron must be wiping his considerable brow in relief that Gordon Brown didn't call a snap election in the autumn. Had he done so there was a chance, admittedly a small one, that Cameron would be having to carry the can for Gordon Brown's economic mismanagement only a few months into his time in office. As it is when the election comes in 2010 it will be Gordon that will be made to take the blame. The economy will be growing again by then but his reputation for economic competence, his only trump card and the one he plays at every opportunity, will be gone.

We don't know whether it will become a full blown recession, but one thing that is certain is that it is going to look much worse than it is thanks to the whinging form the public sector. Having been hosed down with money for the last 5 years the public sector is used to getting big rises to their already generous pay and perks every year. This cannot continue as there isn't any money there to pay for it and they won't be happy. Had he been prudent during the time of plenty the government would have been running large surpluses, money that he could now dip into in his time of need. Unfortunately for everybody he wasn't prudent and was already spending beyond our means when the times were good because he needed the money in order to implement his dreams of micromanaging everything from the centre through a raft of targets Gordon tried to buy the co-operation of the public services by stuffing their mouths with gold.

No more gold, no more co-operation.

In the past some might have been willing to forgo the perpetual increases in pay because they where true public servants and enjoyed their work serving the public, but not now. What satisfaction is there as a mindless drone endlessly trying to meet the meaningless targets that rain down from above? Not much, even for the most unimaginative of time serving of bureaucrats. Worse still for those that really do want to help the public but have to spend their time jumping through hoops for the amusement of their superiors, like performing animals in the circus, all the time knowing that if they where just allowed to get on and do their jobs they could do them so much better.