And how are we ever going pay the money back? This debt is going to be on the books for generations. How dare we do this to our grandchildren?
I don't understand it. And I'm not sure the government economists do either. It's all mad, mad, mad to the nth degree.
And here's another question. If the big motor manufacturers do go bust, will we then run short of cars? I mean, demand may be dropping, but it's not ever going to flatten out altogether- we'll still all need to get about. Or will we? Maybe a dearth of cars will force us all to work from home (which would be highly sensible on all sorts of grounds). Or maybe we'll take up bicycling or buy ourselves pony carts. Maybe this is the beginnings of the end of the car economy- as created by Mr Ford et al a hundred years ago. Or maybe the Chinese will step in again- and the Indians- and all our cars will be imported from the East. Who knows?
My nephew Tom was suggesting that a return to the agrarian economy of the Middle Ages might not be such a bad idea. I replied- in a rather lordly fashion- that this was an idea out of time- which- regardless of its merits- just wasn't going to be taken up. But I've been thinking about it since- and if the oil dries up and the cars stop being made and the world economy collapses like a souffle we may find ourselves back on our small-holdings in a generation or two whether we like it or not.
It's one of those moments in world history. The pack is being shuffled, the wheel's in spin, the dice are rattling around in the dice cup.
