WHAT RECOVERY MEANS

摘要

The ICAEW's Business Confidence Monitor reinforced suggestions over the summer that the recession is coming to an end. Positive news from France, Germany, the US and Japan shifted the attentions of policymakers towards job creation and planning for recovery. G20 finance ministers dared to discuss withdrawing the fiscal stimulus that seems to have averted a global depression.rnIn truth, as September's report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development pointed out, the picture is not clear. But the mood among businesses and policymakers has moved tangibly from crisis management to planning for growth.rnThe government's problem is largely political, it won the philosophical debate about intervention to support jobs and businesses during the downturn. Some of its methods -such as the temporary VAT reduction - may have misfired, but the underlying strategy was bold and probably prevented a deeper recession. But the Conservatives still retain a commanding opinion poll lead.