Margaret Thatcher is to blame for the Credit Crunch

Iain Dale has an article from Dennis Sewell on his blog claiming that it is all Bill Clinton's fault, and if you subscribe to the view that all the problems we face are all the fault of the US and their problems, then yes, Iain Dale may be correct. However, if, like the Tory Party, you want to blame Gordon Brown and Labour for the problems we face, then Iain Dale's argument somewhat collapses.

Perhaps most interesting is the quote Iain uses to show us how Clinton was to blame. In this quote it says :

"The main thrust of the Clinton housing strategy was to increase home ownership among the poor, and particularly among blacks and Hispanics. White House aides, in familiar West Wing style, could parrot the many social advantages that would accrue: high levels of home ownership correlated with less violent crime, better school performance, a heightened sense of community."

The problem for me is this seems so similar to the strategy of Margaret Thatcher which has led to our own housing bubble. Council houses were sold off, councils were not allowed to use the cash to build new ones leading to shortages of housing, people getting on the housing ladder without the necessary finance, banks becoming increasingly willing to lend to anyone, and thus the housing boom was born, and from each boom there comes a bust, which we are suffering again now.

I know the argument are more complex than that, but for me the problems in this country were born from Margaret Thatcher's housing policy.

My Mother's a "Big hearted" person too, but I wouldn't necessarily trust her to turn the economy around

Bill Clinton seems to think that Gordon Brown can turn the economy around because he has "a big brain and a good heart".

It makes me wonder, is that all you need ? A big brain and a good heart ? My mother fits that category, so does my dad, my wife too for that matter and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, she too would have made a good Prime Minister too, so would any number of people in the world who all fit the bill as being "big brained and warm hearted".

The truth of the matter is that you need a lot more to run an economy that being kind and bright. You need guts, determination and the trust of the people, and Brown has not got these at all.