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I don't think it's untrue or even particularly controversial to say that the financial crisis caused far more damage to the UK economy than comparable European economies
I'm not sure what you mean by comparable but places like Spain suffered hugely. It's still pretty weird now in some places when you go to places that were due to be developed pre-crisis and just got abandoned.
aggi-
Spain, Italy and Greece were very badly affected IIRC. Ireland had to borrow and print gigantic amounts of money compared to the UK. Sweden wasn't in a great spot either.
Its fair to say that the UK was particularly badly exposed to the crisis though. How much of that can be pinned on Labour I don't know.
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I'm not sure what you mean by comparable but places like Spain suffered hugely
True, "comparable" was a bit of a weasel word in my comment.
The sad thing is that today we would regard most Southern European economies as "comparable" whereas 10-15 years ago really only Germany was comparable. Ireland arguably now has a more dynamic economy so has stopped being comparable. Again, speaks more to Cameron-era policies than New Labour.
Stonehedge
NickCJ
That's too generous in the opposite direction. The financial services sector was the golden goose that supported spending projects and as a result New Labour was incredibly reluctant to regulate it.
I don't think it's untrue or even particularly controversial to say that the financial crisis caused far more damage to the UK economy than comparable European economies, in large part due to laissez-faire banking regulation.