RAPID RESPONSES
Strong medicine
A double-dip is looking ever more likely. We can’t ease back on deficit reduction – the last thing we want to do is scare markets – we should focus instead on money supply. Yes, quantitative easing is a blunt instrument, and there is the risk of inflationary side-effects. But the patient is poorly and risks getting worse. Aggressive treatment is required.
GRAEME LEACH, INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS
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Fertilising growth
Luke Johnson rightly points out in his column yesterday what fertile grounds recessions can be for entrepreneurship, but without the right sort of fertiliser, new companies will wilt before they can flourish. With bank financing hard to find, start-ups need to be encouraged to explore other funding sources, such as venture capital, if the UK is not to fall behind the rest of the world in producing high-growth, world-beating businesses.
Tim Hames, BVCA