Covid: Chancellor Rishi Sunak should borrow and print money to keep the economy afloat – Jim Duffy

Ground Control to Major Tom. These are the immortal lines from the David Bowie hit Space Oddity where Major Tom flips out and it all seems and bit odd and random.

Rishi Sunak must resist concerns about the UK's mounting debts and keep spending, says Jim Duffy (Picture: Jessica Taylor/AFP via Getty Images)

Major Tom, having blasted into space, gets lost in his own wee world. At the time when the hit song came out, it was rumoured that Bowie was using drugs. The whole Major Tom trip was laid out as a metaphor for a drug overdose or at the very least some time spaced out on a downer – without hope.

Regardless, this trip as Major Tom has made me think this whole pandemic we are living in right now is like an LSD-fuelled spectacular where nothing is as it seems or should be, where some are “strung out on heavens high”, while others are hitting “all-time lows”.

The erratic execution and communication of lockdowns and circuit-breakers is leaving many of us confused and anxious. Should we “give a heck” or not? Is everyone playing the game and in this together? As can be expected from human behaviour, many are working hard to stay within the “rules” as others jog on in a cavalier fashion, unconcerned with regulation and governmental controls.

Because we locked down in the spring, we expected the scientists and politicians to have things under control by now. But just look. It’s as bad as ever and the next six months look grim. It is no wonder Prince William is worried about the mental health time bomb that is ticking away in the young and the old. Loss of hope should never be underestimated – at any age.

Six months ago that dashing young Chancellor Mr Sunak was heralded as a saviour by many. Free money for those entitled to furlough and grants for businesses was the messaging. It was decisive and targeted to keep people in some form of income so that the economy did not collapse. Well Done and God Bless Robin Hood.

But, alas the tiara has now slipped and Sunak looks weak and exactly what he is – a politician with a complete lack of creativity and advised by Whitehall mandarins with safe salaries and gold-plated pensions.

What he is proposing now is killing off and will cripple many businesses and self-employed people. He is banishing many to Major Tom’s all-time lows. And there is no need for it if he looks closer at economics and pandemics. Perhaps he should look west to Uncle Sam.

Wall Street, the US financial powerhouse, is at all-time highs. How can this be, one might ask. As industries change and adapt to more remote working with lay-offs happening and planned, how can Wall Street keep booming ahead?

It’s easy to work out. Wall Street is a classic Major Tom junkie. It cannot stand on its own two feet at the moment and is 100 per cent addicted to stimulus from the Federal Government. Why? If Wall Street actually acted as it should as a sort of proxy for the real economy then American would hit a bigger Great Depression than 1929.

The Yanks’ savings and pensions are all tied into Wall Street, so if it heads south, they will lose billions. No president wants to be remembered for that. Hence the trillions of dollars pouring into Wall Street like a tired old junkie on a methadone script that auto-renews each month. But, don’t knock it just yet.

The time for managing economies is not yet upon us. We have a raging pandemic, we are told. Hospitals are beginning to jam up. Not just here but across Europe. Many businesses are suffering. Mortgage payment holidays are coming to an end. And the furlough initiative is almost washed out.

All of this and Mr Sunak and his chums already want to put the brakes on borrowing and potentially throw the UK into a horrid and prolonged recession. Not yet! Like our American cousins, we need more methadone to get us over this period. Let the good times roll for another six months, then we can think about paying the bills. Otherwise, there could be social unrest that could kill off all the good lockdown work so far undertaken.

And if the model doesn’t work, change it. That model being how we borrow. Perhaps it’s time to go for the American Federal Reserve model, print money and add the debt to “assets” in the balance sheet. So what if the currency devalues a bit in the next few years. At least money is flowing into the system at a time when it is needed.

And the Bank of England might want to think hard about the people, societies and communities it is there to serve. Otherwise it might end up moribund. It may be already you know.

My message to those in power and who have influence is clear. Don’t turn off the taps just yet as people may never forgive you if you do. Don’t leave people floating in space wondering for the next six months. The damage could be irreparable.

This pandemic is a once-in-a-lifetime scourge for us, so think differently and worry about paying the price in 20 years, not next week. We need a Ground Control that can get Major Tom back to Earth safely and not leave us without hope.

It’s time to think like a caring human, Mr Sunak, and not a spaceman. Hope is the key word here – so borrow – and make it happen.

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