Am I missing the plot here, or what?

Economics was described by some wit as “the dismal science.”

I just read some lugubrious economist predicting dire things if the Bank of England doesn’t act swiftly.

The “downturn” is, he said, going to be worse.

It seems GDP is likely to “plunge” from 3% to just 1.7% growth, which reminds me of another remark to the effect that statistics are a way of stating half-truths inexactly.

Those figures beg one or two questions in my simple mind, the first being why can’t this man speak plain English?

If growth is a downturn, what is the opposite? Is a slump an upturn

What perverse logic dictates that anything less than growth is a disaster? Who says things always have to get better?

Would it be the end of the world if they didn’t? Since the great and good think we’re using up too many natural resources, wouldn’t it be a good thing?

Anyhow, I started a business with two partners in the middle of a downturn in the late ’70’s. We had our own personal little downturns, too. None of us had any money and I owed £10 grand to the taxman – a lot then. Eight years later I managed to foist the whole thing on Ogilvy and Mather for quite a lot, which considering I am an abysmal business man is quite amazing.

While we’re on the subject of the improbable, how the hell did the Bliar/Brown team manage to increase taxes 50% without improving anything the Bliar promised eleven years ago? Not the schools, not the hospitals, not the transport system, not housing, not crime (another teenager murdered on Saturday), not defence. Nothing.

That really is remarkable. Mind you, there is some poetic justice since as the pied piper skips off into the distance buying up multi-million pound properties left and right and getting paid tons by the gullible, the miserable old grouch who stopped him spending is left holding the bag.

Actually, that’s not quite true: the Bliar is still stuck with Cherie baby.

    About the Author

    In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

    He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

    Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

    He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

    2 Comments

    1. Rob

      Yes, you are missing the fact that everything is all better now. I saw it on the news following the local elections so it must be true.

      A Labour MP (I don’t recall who but I swear this is true) was asked why the government appeared to have lost its way. I’m paraphrasing slightly but she replied – “with NHS waiting lists shorter, crime figures down and ever better school exam performance, Labour just need to find a new challenge”.

      So, everything is sorted then. Don’t be too hard on yourself though, it’s clearly a subtle change.

    2. Drayton

      I’m confused I know it does not take much but following on from your post I noticed this article today from reuters

      http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKL163581520080519?feedType=nl&feedName=ukdailyinvestor

      then seconds later came across this one from another leading source of news

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7405357.stm

      Just holding out now to see what the Daily Star prints 🙂

      Cheers

      M

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