The return of the Mile End Road economists
As I noted in June, I was very surprised that my old friend Danny Blanchflower had signed a letter to the Guardian by a range of what I thought to be pro-establishment economists supporting Labour's economic policy in the run-up to the general election.
Danny and I have worked together, loosely styling ourselves 'the Mile End Road economists' to suggest that we are looking at the world from the perspective of the person outside the wall of the City of London. The road in question heads for London's East End. Its destination, a mile beyond the walls, was the venue for the final acts in the Peasants' Revolt.
I was, therefore, delighted to find that over the weekend, Danny had decided that he had got this one wrong and called out Labour in a whole series of Tweets. He began with this:
Amongst the others was this:
It seems we're back in action.
When I asked Dany what the plan was, he confirmed to me that it is what I have been suggetsing all along.
Danny hits one of the themes on which he is an expert when commenting on this apparent change of heart. First, there was this:
The link between mental health, well-being and economics has been a recurring theme in Danny's work. The new paper shows rates of depression in the UK are rising. Nothing Labour is doing is going to address that, as Danny notes here:
This is my great concern: Labour's obsessions are doing nothing at all for most people.
I admit that I admire Danny for admitting the error. It's hard to do that. He's welcome back.
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