“I’m Afraid To Tell You There’s No Money Left”

Ted Bromund / May 19, 2010

When Britain’s new Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, walked into his office last week, he found a letter from his predecessor, Liam Byrne. Laws assumed it contained useful advice.

But when he opened the envelope, he found that the letter – which he characterized as “honest but slightly less helpful” than he had expected – had only a single line:

Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left.

And so there isn’t. Americans don’t realize just how bad Britain’s situation is. True, Britain’s not in the Euro, which is a huge help. But Britain’s got a larger structural deficit – in other words, the deficit after you factor out the effects of the recession – than Greece, and its borrowing one pound for every four it spends. It will take years for Britain to recover from the pain New Labour has inflicted. (more…)