The Tale of Ginger & Pickles by Beatrix Potter is an indispensable Economics text book. The late Duchess of Devonshire thought so and I concur. It is our misfortune that our Chancellors of the Exchequer have either not read it or ignored its message.
Ginger and Pickles were the people who kept the shop. Ginger was a yellow tomcat, and Pickles was a terrier …
Ginger and Pickles gave unlimited credit.
Now the meaning of “credit” is this–when a customer buys a bar of soap, instead of the customer pulling out a purse and paying for it –she says she will pay another time.
And Pickles makes a low bow and says, “With pleasure, madam,” and it is written down in a book… But there is no money in what is called the “till”.
The customers came in crowds every day and bought quantities, especially the toffee customers. But there was always no money; they never paid for as much as a pennyworth of peppermints.
But the sales were enormous, ten times as large as Tabitha Twitchit’s. (Tabitha Twitchit kept the only other shop in the village. She did not give credit.)
Ginger and Pickles retired into the back parlour.
They did accounts. They added up sums and sums, and sums.
“Samuel Whiskers has run up a bill as long as his tail; he has had an ounce and three- quarters of snuff since October.”
Like BHS the shop closed. Margaret Thatcher was at heart a Tabitha Twitchit. I really believe that George Osborne wants to be a TT but borrowing is so tempting when interest rates are low. I am afraid that to cushion the economic consequences of leaving the EU we will succumb to temptation and follow the G&P economic model. A weak pound confers some advantages on our economy but dearer imports will fuel inflation and lead to higher interest rates.
When I pay my tax bill I like to think I’m contributing to the NHS, Education, Defence and so on. What is dispiriting is to pay interest on money rashly borrowed. We soon will be well on our way to joining Greece as a failed economy. The consequences of this will bear most heavily on those with the least.
I am going to ponder on these issues before casting my vote for a new leader of the Conservatives.