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Economic Recovery

Those of us who were working or in business during the recessions in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s will remember not only the immense damage that was done to our businesses and the time it took to recover and get back to growth, but the social evils that followed from the unemployment caused at those times. Therefore, to me, securing economic recovery is of the first importance, not simply so that businesses can get back to business, but so that the social evils that follow from unemployment and other effects of the recession can be minimised and mitigated. In the short time available to me in the debate, I shall look at three matters. First, as has already been discussed, a precursor to any attempt at securing a recovery is the restoration of financial stability: creating a banking system that is effective and fair, with the minimum of systemic risk. The second issue is restoring growth in the economy, which is about the financial stimulus and the right moment to put the brake on; and the third issue is restoring order to the public finances and dealing with the deficit.