In These New Times

“Hidden agenda” in talk about economic recovery

15 June 2009
A UNION leader will today warn of a “hidden agenda” in talk of recovery from the recession, warning it could hit efforts to save jobs and crack down on tax havens.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber will say that even though some commentators and finance experts were saying the recession was over, many banks, businesses and consumers were still riddled with debt, and the price of oil had shot up, ready to choke off growth.

Mr Barber will tell a meeting of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva: “Of course we should welcome any green shoots, but a few statistics that may or may not turn out to be blips, do not make for a recovery.

“Nor will a technical end to recession mean much, if it just means that we bump along the bottom without creating jobs.

“With unemployment set to grow for months to come – not just in the UK but across many of the world’s economies – it does not look like much of a recovery to the millions who fear for their jobs.

“While of course statisticians must do their job, I see a hidden agenda in much talk of recovery. If the economy is on the mend they argue, then we can go back to business as usual.

“There is no need for further action on jobs, no need for proper regulation, no need to crack down on the tax havens. The neoliberal model is not bust, and we don’t need to build another kind of economy.”

The economic crisis will only be over when people were back in work, in good jobs that paid decent wages, Mr Barber will argue, adding: “And unless we build a green economy out of the rubble of the greed economy, the next global crisis will surely be even worse.”