Can We Follow America's Lead?

摘要

Well, did you see the inauguration of America's new president, or were you holed up in an internal meeting discussing a subject that you have already forgotten about? Following an amazing day in Washington, I am, like almost everyone else, anticipating a vital change in the direction of US domestic and foreign policy. And what happens over there makes an enormous difference to what can happen here. The challenges faced by Barack Obama are staggeringly large, not least of which are the perilous state of the global economy and the parlous state of global public finances. The domestic impact of the downturn within the US is considerable. The overall unemployment rate in the US is 6.7% and rising. This is high by US standards, but is actually still lower than most of Europe's largest countries - Italy, 6.7%, Germany 7.1%, France 7.9%, and Spain 13.4%. Unemployment in the UK now stands at 6%.