Might we be seeing this again at the next election?

One unfortunate feature of both the mainstream media and the blogosphere is that, by and large, commentary on economics and politics remain divorced. The politicos often talk as if all that matters is who said what to whom in Westminster, while the economists spend too much time looking at charts and don't understand how the messy world of politics gets in the way.

What strikes Woody is that political blogs have yet to pick up on the fact that the political atmosphere up until the next election is likely to be dominated by a bad and worsening economic situation.

The general consensus among economic commentators is now that there is a significant likelihood that the next few years will see an economic downturn, a declining or crashing housing market, and rising unemployment. This is already happening in the US, and it seems likely that where they lead we will follow.

A growing economy, with low inflation, interest rates, and unemployment has been the economic back-drop to the entire political scene of the past 10 years.

When that changes, so too will politics. Will this be the nail in the coffin for Labour? Or can Brown 'do a Major' and come through any economic downturn?

Woody will post some more on this when he has the time.