So much for le libéralisme anglo-saxon

It's official, the UK is no longer a low tax economy. UK Business Online reports that the UK's fiscal burden will hit 42.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, according to a recent analysis of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development figures. This is up from the level of 37.5% in 2000. By contrast, the fiscal burden in Germany will fall to 42.1% of GDP, less than Britain’s for the first time in in a generation. Britain will also outspend Germany from next year, the OECD figures also show. In 2007, German government expenditure will fall to 45% of GDP, while British public spending will hit a new high of 45.7% of GDP. To make matters worse, the UK's unemployment level is steadily climbing back towards the million mark for the first time in years.

As Europe's sclerotic economies begin to take steps to encourage economic growth, the UK appears to be doing the opposite. Having been in power for nine years, Labour are steadily drifting back to their old ways as a tax and spend party. It's a shame really, they've lost the one area for which they had some credibility. In the circumstances, David Cameron's decision to turn his back on Thatcherism was a foolish move, it was the one policy that would have differentiated the Tories from Labour. With both of the main parties lost on economic policy, overseas investors won't be rushing to locate here.

It seems the French will longer have to complain about le libéralisme anglo-saxon.