IMF Labels George Osborne As A Moron.

The IMF, the organisation charged with the task of saving bankers from the consequencies of their own crminal actions, has today pointed out that George Osborne is actually a complete moron. Christine Lagarde has warned him that deliberately destroying the British economy is not likely to aid its recovery. "We have come to the startling conclusion that throwing millions out of work, cutting benefits to them and then forcing them to pay ever-increasing prices for essential goods and services might not be such a good idea after all. We used to think that and were really really surprised when it failed to work. I mean who could have predicted that? Anyway, the point is that George Osborne seems to have missed this finding and we are appealing to him to pay more attention to his job. I hesitate to use the word "moron." He obviously is a moron but I don't like insulting rich people because it might upset them. I don't use the word "criminal" when talking about bankers for the same reason. Nor would I like to go too far in criticising his economic strategy since it has saved rich people from shouldering their fair share of the burden which is the main thing. The problem now is that completely flattening the economy is bad for business and business people are rich too so need protecting as well. Unfortunately this means that the peasants can't be squeezed indefinitely - though we would all like to do so - and we have to allow them enough money to pay their taxes. I mean, if they don't pay taxes who will?"

Tax And How It Is Spent.

Yesterday Christine Lagarde was lecturing the Greeks about paying their taxes. Today it has been revealed that as an employee of an international organization she actually pays no tax whatsoever on her salary, which is in excess of £300,000 a year plus fringe benfits. Unlike the Greeks she has no need to dodge paying tax. Meanwhile, here in Britain the right-wing think tank, Centre for Social Justice (now there's a misleading title), has said that the government should scrap targets to reduce child poverty on the basis that "the poor are always with us." Or at least they will be if the Tories have anything to do with it. Though the British super-wealthy have made tax dodging into the only growth industry in the country and George Osborne seems to become strangely incompetent when it comes to closing loopholes, the rest of us have to pay our taxes whether we like it or not. Still we can take solace in the fact that our tax money is being diverted away from the undeserving disabled, unemployed and feckless and is now being spent on more worthwhile things. Can't we? Well, that depends on whether you think that the Wildlife minister, wealthy landowner and keen shot Richard Benyon, should spend your money on shooting buzzards in order to increase the number of pheasants available for the wealthy to take pot shots at. His ministry, by the way, has no brief to help out gamekeepers in their struggle to provide suitable targets for their rich masters and her certainly has no brief to kill a protected species like the British buzzard for the benefit of a tiny minority of Tory landowners. Not to worry though because Michael Gove has used his appearance at the Leveson Enquiry to air his belief that our shools, and presumably our schoolchildren, should generate profits for corporations making room for more tax cuts - not for you of course, but for his rich mates. The "News in Shorts" has one question. How much longer are we going to have to put up with these latter-day robber barons, spivs and conmen?

Lagarde Parades Double Standards.

Nothing could demonstrate the double standards practised by world leaders under the influence of the neoliberal economic thesis than Christine Lagarde's outburst against the Greeks. Writing on her Facebook account she said that she had more sympathy for Africans than for Greeks who should pay their taxes and shut up. It is "payback time" for Greece she said gleefully, suggesting that the austerity measures imposed on the country are some sort of punishment. Like most ordinary working people in the world ordinary working Greeks have no choice about paying tax. Choosing not to pay tax is solely the preserve of the rich who benefit from tax systems that deliberately allow loopholes that can be exploited by anyone rich enough to retain the services of a battery of accountants. Dodging tax when you are an ordinary person is a dangerous course that can and does end in a prison sentence. Dodging tax when you are rich is a lucrative income stream that is often rewarded with medals, honours and increased influence. Lagarde has now revealed the utter arrogance of the new super-class that has sprung into existence across the globe. Utterly selfish, greedy, irresponsible and without any sympathy for those not rich enough to share the rarified atmosphere of their world, these are the people who see it as their divine right to order the lives of the rest of us. If austerity is called for then, perhaps, it should start with those who have too much rather than those who have too little. There is, however, no sign that this is happening. Fatcats started this crisis and it is the fatcats that are ordering events to make sure they get fatter at our expense. The Greeks should take note of this outburst and walk away from the "deal" they are being offered. They should do what Iceland has done - tell the banks to shove it, arrest their political leaders and bankers who led them into this mess, get out of the Euro and tell the Germans to clear up the mess that they so eagerly promoted when it suited them.

Tories Continue To Kill The Patient.

In her speech about the British economy Christine Lagarde effectively told us that George Osborne was doing all the right things while it was only reality that prevented his policies from working. In other words the cure is working but the patient is dying nevertheless. We all laugh when we read about Medieval doctors bleeding their patients to remove "evil humours" but it isn't funny when George Osborne does the same thing to the economy. Neoliberal economics was once described by George Bush Snr as "voodoo economics" and he wasn't wrong. It is based on a self-serving mythology, mumbo-jumbo of the worst kind, and inflicted on the rest of us by the greedy and stupid for whom economics is not a science but a kind or religion - an irrational belief that if you do enough idiotic and utterly selfish things everything will turn out for the best. Well it hasn't, as everyone can now plainly see. Demand in Britain fell sharply in April with people, fearful of the future and having no faith whatsover in this woeful government, unwilling to spend. To add to the fear factor Adrian Beecroft has now unveiled his plans to make it easier to sack the very workers he depends upon to keep his businesses afloat. Nothing illustrates better the sheer idiotic vindictiveness of these people who seek to restore confidence by making everyone more fearful and promote growth by making everyone (except themselves) poorer. The madness of super-sized austerity is evident in the situation in Greece and will soon be evident in Spain and still people like Angela Merkal insist that administering poison is the only cure. The insane have been in charge of the asylum for too long.

Lagarde Agrees With Osborne - Sort Of.

Christine Lagarde stood next to George Osborne and, according to the Tories at least, agreed with him. The truth is, as she herself openly admitted, she chose her words very carefully. She was at great pains to point out that, though the IMF broadly agreed with a deficit-cutting strategy, it only approved of the "policy mix" and not particular policies. She certainly did not think that increasing inequality and high unemployment was "a price worth paying" and archly pointed out that persuing such policies is counter-productive and, ultimately, dangerous. She then went on to say quite pointedly that if the British economy continued on its present course and remained in recession, then austerity measures would have to be relaxed. "Unfortunately the economic recovery in the UK has not yet taken hold and uncertainties abound," she said. "Growth is too slow and unemployment - including youth unemployment - is too high. Policies to bolster demand before low growth becomes entrenched are needed." Hardly a ringing endorsement of Osborne and his "austerity at all costs" strategy. Of course Tories only hear what they want to hear, but explaining the BBC's opinion that "Ms Lagarde gave a strong endorsement to the government's actions" is somewhat difficult to understand. Both the BBC and the Tories seized on one comment by Ms.Lagarde - "Sometimes you feel like you could look back and wonder 'what if?'. And when I think back myself to May 2010, when the UK deficit was at 11% and I try to imagine what the situation would be like today if no such fiscal consolidation programme had been decided... I shiver." Their take is that she was saying that if Labour had been in power then there would have been no austerity measures and Britain would have crashed and burned. Considering the praise that the IMF heaped on Gordon Brown for saving the banking system this seems a little odd. Of course she wasn't actually accusing Labour of being congenitally insane or that they would have done nothing - she was merely saying that if nothing had been done it would have been disastrous. The Tories are now running from studio to studio spreading the idiotic notion that a hypothetical Labour government would have hypothetically done nothing - despite the fact thay they have spent two years shouting that Labour's policy is little different to their own. Its cake and eat it time in Toryworld.