Only G20 country still in recession

The Times carries a report here that the UK remains the country still in recession despite Alistair Darling's contention that our economy would be back in growth by the end of the year. So much for us being better prepared to weather the storm. The economy has shrunk by 6% since the recession began in Quarter 2 of 2008. One of the commentors draws attention to the fact that the public sector has not (yet) reduced in size and so therefore the decline in the private sector has been significantly greater. It is sometimes easy to forget that it is the weath created by the private sector which provides the resources for the public sector to provide the services we all need. So it is vital that we get the incentives in place to encourage that sector to thrive once again,and generate income. Increasing National Insurance contributions by both employers and staff (as set out in the pre budget report) wont help with that and is a step in the wrong direction.