More evidence for the fact that getting a hung parliament is the best that could happen in the UK elections. Niall Fergueson is urging the Tories on to crash the economy:
‘There is a very real danger that [things] could now spiral, Greek style, out of all control if foreign confidence in sterling slumps and long-term interest rates rise. Mr Cameron needs to do two things right away. He must instruct George Osborne to wield the axe ruthlessly with the aim of returning to a balanced budget over a credible eight- to ten-year timeframe.
That means not only reversing Labour’s disastrous expansion of public sector spending, but also encouraging business growth with incentives to innovate, invest and work. At the same time, he needs to initiate talks with the IMF in case external support proves to be necessary. In both cases, it is much better to act sooner than later. The mess we are in is the result of 13 squandered years in which an unprincipled government frittered away the achievements of the Thatcher era. We are back not just in 1979, but in 1976, the last time the IMF had to bail Britain out as a consequence of Labour’s economic mismanagement.’
Drastically cutting government spending at a time of economic crisis worked so well in getting the world out of the Depression in the 1930ties, but then this isn’t about economics, but ideology, as Jamie notes. Talking about “the achievements of the Thatcher era”, in which much of the industrial strength of Britain was destroyed so that yuppies could roam free, is a dead giveaway. Hence the need to not let the Tories win this elections is just as great as to let Labour lose: vote tactically, vote hung parliament. First, let them do no harm.