Mehdi Hasan

Mehdi Hasan’s polemical take on politics, economics and foreign affairs

Quote for the day

Chairman of the US Federal Reserve v George Osborne.

By Mehdi Hasan Published 20 October 2010 13:00

Economic conditions provide little scope for reducing deficits significantly further over the next year or two; indeed, premature fiscal tightening could put the recovery at risk.

Those were the words of Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, in a speech on 4 October. Bernanke is no dove on the deficit; he also happens to be one of the pre-eminent scholars of the Great Depression.

It might be worth remembering these words when George Osborne refers to the Labour front bench as a load of "deficit deniers" in about an hour's time.

Tags: budget deficit George Osborne

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3 comments

Wed, 2010-10-20 18:05 — Shab from NY (not verified)

Hi There,

Just saw your Doha Debate on BBC and I must say you did an astounding job in conveying all that needs to be said. Its always a refreshing change to see eloquent Muslims on National scene. Job well done =D

As someone who has alot of friends and family members who wear full veil in UK, I m passionate about the subject and just hope that it doesn't make its way in to UK =(

Wed, 2010-10-20 19:06 — Sue Davies (not verified)

Thought you were going to quote Johnson's best line to Osborne. Having noted that the devolved nations, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, had written to Osborne rejecting the speed and depth of the cuts, Alan Johnson asked whether this was what Osborne meant when he called himself a 'one-nation tory'.