The lemming syndrome

Other than debt collectors, bailiffs and pawnbrokers, there is one other sector that appears unaffected by the credit crunch. The public sector.

Independent specialists published forecasts showing that an extra 50,000 public officials will have been recruited in the six months to the end of the year.

The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) forecast that over the same period 300,000 private sector workers will have lost their jobs.

That wouldn't be so bad if they were actually producing something - but I don't really think that reams of red tape counts as "production" - and when you add on the enormous pension bill this army of pen pushers will accumulate the cost to Britain is even greater.

As I said in a previous post, the first thing a sensible government should do right now is impose a complete freeze on public sector recruitment. Employing more and more people into the public sector is not going to help stave off recession, but it will ensure that the recovery from it is longer and harder.