Shifting debates ...

Last month, in the UK, Labour leadership contender Ed Balls gave a seminal speech at Bloomberg arguing against cuts and for investment. Until Balls' speech, UK polls showed people heavily in favour of cuts. The impact was immediate,a Populus polls for the Times on Sep 14, just a few days afterwards, put support for govt. cuts at 22%, slower cuts with more tax increases (Labour's policy then) at 34%, and prioritising the poor and the unemployed over the deficit at 34%. Yesterday, it could be argued that new Labour Leader Ed Miliband echoed many of the points originally made by Balls. Even without such interventions, it seems that public opinion here is turning against a continuation of current economic policies: 64 per cent of respondents to the current Irish Times online business poll believe that the recent disappointing economic growth figures should force a change in economic strategy.