Grayling Blog

Economic uncertainty?

Posted on 2.07.2010 by Unknown User

"Everywhere construction, construction," the Brussels taxi driver said yesterday, throwing his hands in the air. "Oh, er, c'est bon?" I replied, thinking to myself it must be good news, surely, it's jobs?

"Non!" he replied, banging the steering wheel. And reverting to what seemed to be perfect English just as I was warming up my French for a proper effort he added: "It's pollution everywhere - and he pointed out all the sites with real annoyance. I took his point, but surely he was glad there was economic activity? In any town or city in the UK, I think we'd be glad. But he was only just picking up speed. "Just companies sharing this out," he said. "Only 10 per cent of the people will benefit. The rest - the 90 per cent - they hate their government and they hate politicians. It will become a fight. We have demonstrations every week. This life, all about the markets, it will end. The Euro - it will go. People are struggling. They don't believe in their leaders any more."

I hadn't been expecting to hear about the prospect of revolution in Brussels and I felt as a pretty obviously paid-up member of the bourgeousie in my business suit en route to a conference my best move was to keep my mouth firmly 'ferme'. Thinking about it afterwards, I took it with a pinch of salt although it is true that Belgium, often seen as the EU “in miniature”, is going through what a colleague described as "its own existential crisis" as it has still not been able to reach an agreement to form the new Federal Government following elections earlier this month. Indeed, it has been in a very extended political crisis. Belgium, as my colleague said, is in reality three regions, three languages, three communities. With a lot of debt. Everywhere you go, in our new austere world, The Debt comes up for discussion pretty fast. Everywhere feels uncertain, still struggling with economic events which are far from over. You have to hope the taxi driver was just plain wrong. But it sent a shiver up my spine all the same.