- Europe's inability to co-ordinate action across such a diverse landscape - with different fiscal objectives. Germany & France certainly could have helped more (for once I agree with Gordon Brown !).
- The political russian roulette in the US between the Democrats & Republicans - particularly the inflexible zealout Tea party.
- The lack of growth in the developed world, & the increasing tendency for some time now, to consume, on the never, never.
Its a very difficult trade off - take on austerity like the UK & risk growth and potentially risk recession - more job losses & an even greater slump.
My judgement - treat the economy like your own business - if your a debt junkie, the only way to recover is to wean off the dependency & clean up your act.
The coalition have this called right - they started early & despite the pain & the drop in living standards, we have increased confidence around UK Sovereign debt & now have a better rating than USA !!
This road is long & bumpy. Expect more equity weakness, interest rates will have to stay low for longer than the BoE would like, risking more infltionary pressure.
One bit of advice - avoid equities in the short term, & also beware of the tendency to put off the difficult things & if necessary print more money. As Dennis Healey proved in the 1970's - it's the road to ruin.
Jason Oakley MBA DipFS ACIB CeRGI CeCM
Acorn to Oaks Financial Services Ltd
