I have lost proper track now of each and every recession that I have lived and worked through - this one, though, feels different - very different.
The new "coalition" government has set out to redress the national debt by axing public services, selling off anything that might form a part of an earlier legacy (forests) and hoping to turn things around so fast that by the next election, we will have forgotten / forgiven them the pain of the first three years of their office.
Cynic that I am, I cannot help but agree with those commentators who have noted that the Liberal Democrats are being tarnished by the Tories to the latters' gain. In government they are damned if they tow the line, and damned if they don't. Was it a good idea to side with the Tories rather than Labour, I wonder? 2011 looks set for a show-down ... though Labour may need to shed its new leader to capitaise on it.
Unemployment and depressed local economies are in my mind going to feature in the depressing news bulletins of 2011. The government thinks that shedding jobs in the public sector will somehow stimulate the national economy so much so that 330,000 private sector jobs will be generated over the next four years. How? Why? With what resources? If formerly employed local people cannot afford their own homes or to purchase anything more than the basics, how is a local entrepreneur going to find the resources or markets to employ them?
Localism: by that we mean giving local people the power to decide and provide their own priorities and services. Very novel - but isn't that what we choose to do when we a) elect a local council and b) pay their community charges and other taxes? If we are to sweep our own streets (in Chiswick, Chelsea or Westminster ... you're having me on!) or cut the grass and litter pick the parks (in Knightsbridge?), aren't we then entitled to the money back that we are paying the government and council? Where will the expertise come from? Unemployed former apprentices with nothing to do other than use their government-sponsored skills might be tempted, I suppose - but doubt it.
I am no particular fan of Gordon Brown and believe that his government has much to answer for allowing the corporate greed that brought down the economies of the western world. I am certainly no fan either, though, of the current Tory-led coalition of bizarre political thought and dubious economic policy. As each new initiative is announced one cannot help but smell political opportunism and personal interest. For ambitious politicians this must be seasonal bounty.
I fear that the road ahead will be rocky and am grateful that I am not entirely dependent anymore on a future in local government service. I fear for the futures of my younger colleagues and the wider community that is Great Britain: the FTSE 100 may be recovering - but then we must not forget that although housed in the London Stock Exchange, it reflects the global rather than the British economy.
