John Ward Denial in the Lion's Den

18th September 2013: Jumping head first into de Nile

London mayor Boris Johnson says Britain is on the verge of an “economic renaissance”. He likened Britain’s economic recovery to the salvaging of the wrecked cruise ship, the Costa Concordia.

“The ship is now being recovered from a rocky reef, ahead of being towed for scrap,” he opined, “after two-and-half years of parbuckling the labour is complete and the rotation has been accomplished and though the damage is still I think manifest and the caissons have not yet been entirely drained of debt, I think you would agree that the keel is off the rocks and at last we can feel motion, relief.”

…………

 In the aftermath of the horrifying Colorado flooding, the oil and gas industry has said that fracking shouldn’t be a matter for concern. “None [of the fracking sites] have been left open during the flood and we don’t have any major issues going on,” Colorado Oil and Gas Association President and CEO Tisha Schuller told 9News. “There were no fracking sites affected by the flood.”
…………
The Bank of England policymaking committee (MPC) have ruled out the prospect of more quantitative easing because, they say, of “the strong rebound in the economy”. The Bank upgraded its growth forecast for the three months to September from 0.5% to 0.7%, adding that the latest stats “tentatively suggest” the recovery would remain firm in the final quarter of the year.
…………

Answering questions at the annual convention of the Institute of Directors in London, the UK Chancellor George Osborne said that he, along with the Bank of England, was “alert to the risks” of a housing boom. But he added: “Don’t let’s pretend there’s a housing boom.”

…………

Builders began work on fewer U.S. homes than projected in August, highlighting the risk that rising borrowing costs will hurt a mainstay of the expansion as Federal Reserve policy makers consider reducing stimulus. “Higher rates are a restraint on the housing recovery, but won’t derail it,” said David Sloan, a senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York.

…………

Jose Manolo Barroso of the European Union told Greek media this morning,  “…we expect a gradual return to growth in 2014 after six years of recession; government bond spreads haven fallen markedly since their peak in June 2012; economic sentiment has improved; the current account deficit has fallen over the last three years and Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio is set to start declining next year and fall below 120% by 2021. All these are encouraging signals when you think of the doubts that were expressed some time ago concerning Greece.”

…………

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told the LibDem Conference today if his confidence in the Party’s ability  “to break the hold of Britain’s two main parties and keep the Liberal Democrats’ place in a coalition government”.

…………

The Slog deems that no comment whatsoever is necessary in relation to these news items.