UK Consumers Blame the Government and Banks for the Economic Downturn

According to the results of a survey conducted by independent market analyst Datamonitor as part of its ‘Recession and Recovery Research Programme’, 83 per cent of the UK population blames the banking industry for the credit crunch and the economic downturn.

Whilst that number may not be surprising in itself, given the excoriation in the media that the financial services industry has been subjected to in recent months, what is more worrying for the incumbent Labour government is the fact that almost as many respondents (82 per cent) put equal blame on the government and regulators such as the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority for the economic downturn. Indeed, 64 per cent of respondents felt the fundamental lack of regulation was in fact symptomatic of political greed – and therefore part of a wider ‘feather your own nest’ culture in British politics – implying political decisions were made for personal benefit and not for the greater good of the population.

There is no doubt that this latter finding may be skewed by the ongoing investigation into the abuse of MP’s expenses. However, whoever does win the next election will have a tough economic path to follow.

“There is already a good deal of debate over the veracity of the Treasury’s macro-economic forecasts and the implied debt position that these assume,” says Neil Hendry, Global Director of Consulting for Consumer and Financial Services at Datamonitor. “It will not take too much of a downside impact to drive government debt levels over 100 per cent of GDP. Therefore, whoever wins the next election has to deal with the fundamental fact that the UK consumer remains downbeat about the economy and their personal financial position.”