Forget The Doom Mongers, We Can Recover Quickly

‘We have entrepreneurial spirit and a sound financial system’

- Leo McKinstry

The United States appears to be staring into the abyss of anarchy. As huge protests continue over police brutality, cities are ablaze, racial divisions widening, and authorities paralysed.

Yet amid all this social turmoil comes remarkable economic news. Contrary to all expectations, the latest US labour market figures have shown a dramatic improvement. Despite the pandemic, the unemployment rate there fell last month to 13.3 per cent, down from 14.7 per cent in April. As the economy began to reopen, 2.5 million new jobs were created.

A recovery is undoubtedly underway in North America. Could the same happen here? Throughout the emergency, we have been warned that Britain faces the worst slump for three centuries, driven by soaring unemployment, business failures, and battered public finances.

Yet, following the US example, perhaps the apocalyptic gloom has been overdone, partly because the circumstances of the present downturn are unique in our history.

It is nothing like the usual type of recession, brought about by external factors such as a financial crash, rampant inflation or a run on sterling.