can’t help feeling shortchanged by him

Osborne invariably leaves with me a distinct impression of someone playing to a party-line script who doesn’t really understand the subject he is speaking about. But then he is a history grad. On leaving uni, he went straight to a job in the Conservative Research Department:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Osborne

IMO he is an electoral liability.

Speaking as a trained economist who has worked as an economist in the real world for many years and does understand economics properly, I have not doubt whatsoever in saying that George Osborne doesn’t even understand the 18th & 19th century classical economics his mangled soundbites are vaguely based on, much less any economic analysis that has taken place since.

I am completely certain that the man is a dangerous ignoramous.

According to his biography, the only jobs he has ever done are towel folding at Selfridges and data inputting for the NHS. He tried to become a journalist and failed.

Ever since he has been working for the Tory party.

Added to which, he is from a very well-off background and so presumably has no idea of the economic situation facing most people.

So – he knows nothing about the micro-economics of industry, finance, utilities, farming, transport, media, education, arts, science, etc, understands nothing about normal people’s budgets, nothing about the starting assumptions underpinning classical market economics and market failure: monopolies, externalities, pollution, public goods or any other distortion to the free market equilibrium solution. Neither does he know anything about macro-economics: trade, exchange rates, monetary and fiscal policy, etc, in an imperfect world which clearly does not satisfy the starting assumption of classical economics.

(Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he doesn’t even recognise some of the terms I’ve just listed.)

Ideal candidate for Chancellor, no? :<

Ahahaha!

Still, I blame David Axelrod.

Tigger,

What’s more worrying in its way is that Osborne’s performances in the media will have been routinely monitored by the hierarchy at CCHQ – such as Andy Coulson, the communications director, and Steve Hilton, the resident genius at strategy – a practice which is fairly standard at all the big mainstream parties when their respective front benchers pop up in the media.

The CCHQ communications hierarchy will have observed or listened to Osborne’s frequent presentations and – presumably – have continued to give their nod for there has been no perceptible change in his style or substance. I can only take this to mean that Conservative CCHQ are content and just about as ignorant and confused as Osborne is on economic issues.

Update:

Profs Robert Skidelsky and Marcus Miller in Thursday’s FT take Obsorne down in: Do not rush to switch off the life support:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1efe0634-2700-11df-8c08-00144feabdc0.html