Is Alastair Darling cleverer than we think in his attempt to deal with house market?

Question

On the face of it, Alastair Darling made a big mistake by hinting that there maybe a relaxation of stamp duty. The uncertainty seems to have made matters worse - as agents are reporting the remaining house sales are now faltering pending possible stamp duty savings.

This could have the affect of making things much worse for a short period.

This maybe beneficial however - money supply in lenders will build without an outlet. Pressure to sell will increase amongst some. And there will be be pent-up demand to buy.

A head of steam will build in each. Then an announcement about stamp duty, perhaps coupled with some other measures* might ensure the flow of transactions is maintained after the initial burst.

(other measures might inculde some additional govmnt funds for lenders, an interest rate reduction in Autumn)

If I'm not right - then he really has bungled the issue.

Answer 1

The description intelligent applies to Darling,clever he's not.

Answer 2

It would be wonderful if that was the case, but the man has shown no evidence of brilliance yet, and so I fear that he has just made a huge mistake, and is out of his depth at the moment. He obviously didn't think this through, or it would have been obvious that the housing market would suffer, it looks more like he panicked so just said "we're neither confirming or denying it" because he didn't know what to do.

Answer 3

You are kidding yourself. The man's an ars*hole. He's the clown that came up with using the emergency lanes on motorways to relieve congestion. I suspect a few souls will have to die before that is withdrawn.

Answer 4

The man is as big a fool and liability as his predecessor and current PM. They seem to be falling over themselves to see who can ruin this country first. Its just a huge game to them, playing with peoples lives and s******g the country up. Get rid of Labour now or we will truly regret it for a long long time.

Answer 5

He has certainly bungled this and many other issues.  This government is doing nothing in the face of a major recession, and savage hyperinflation in the price of basic essentials that menaces the working and retired poor far more than the rich whose interests these criminals serve.

Our corrupt masters do nothing because they believe the discredited neoliberal lie that markets will sort themselved out for the best in the end.

The only good thing about this disaster which criminals brought about is that it is demonstrating to everyone that markets are quite simply where cattle are sold to be killed, and the sooner we take command of the situation by electing a government that will do something about it - and will put those responsible behind bars for life - the better.

Move Over, Darling - and the rest of the new labour Tories!  

Answer 6

No.  His dithering has caused buyers to sit on their hands.  Until he makes up his mind house prices will slump, maany sellers may withdraw from the market leaving an even larger problem for the future.