Fools on the hill

And of course, we’re headed for a triple-dip if they make any more cuts. Wheee!

Great Britain received some more bad news about its economy today, with the National Institute for Economic and Social Research saying that a triple-dip recessioncould be on its way:

Pressure mounted on chancellor George Osborne to moderate his austerity programme after analysis by a leading thinktank showed the UK economy heading for a triple-dip recessionand as 800 jobs were axed at the Honda plant in Swindon.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said in its monthly healthcheck that the economy shrank by 0.3% in the three months to December. Against a backdrop of weak consumer spending and a drop in manufacturing output, the estimates from NIESR may add fuel to campaigns for Osborne to adopt a more radical approach to generating growth. […]

The first official estimate for fourth quarter GDP by the Office for National Statistics will be released on 25 January. Britain emerged from recession in the third quarter of last year but a series of gloomy releases – including weak trade data and downbeat purchasing managers’ surveys – have fuelled fears of a contraction in the final quarter. If output continues to fall in the first quarter of this year, the UK will fall into its third recession in four years.

The UK service sector also shrank for the first time since 2010 last month, making it seem like Britain’s emergence from recession had more to do with a brief bump from the Olympics than anything else. Yet the Conservative government led by Prime Minister David Cameron has said that it will double down on austerity, rather than provide the economy more support.

The International Monetary Fund recently admitted that it significantly underestimated the damage austerity would do to European economies. And if American lawmakers aren’t careful, the U.S. will be in for a serious dose of austerity this year.