Never mind that all economic indicators keep falling. Osborne and the ConDem ministers remain adamant that their "deficit-reduction" policy is "working"! But this apparent state of denial has a logic of its own.
Because, of course, Osborne's aim was never to stop the upward trend in unemployment, nor the downward trend in workers' wages and living standards . As he always said, his priority is to restore "confidence on the markets". By this, he means restoring the conditions under which a small number of very large banks and investment funds, which control the financial markets, can resume their destructive, speculative activity without putting their profits at risk!
Labour's "alternative"... for the bosses
All the economists of the capitalist class probably agree with the ConDems' objectives, but not all of them agree with their methods. So, fifty of these "experts", including some of Osborne's own former advisers, published an open letter in the Observer, on 5 June, in which they criticise the ConDems' policy as "self-defeating even in their own terms", advocating instead what they call a "plan B for the economy", as a "more effective strategy for sustainable growth".
In fact, this "plan B" is just the same so-called "alternative" which has been put forward by the Labour and trade-union leaders over the past few months. And while this may well provide the bosses with an "alternative", it is certainly no "alternative" for the working class.
Indeed, haven't Ed Milliband and his shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, repeatedly stated, just like Cameron and Osborne, that the budget hole should be plugged by cutting expenditure on the back of the working class?
Of course, Labour goes on to add that these cuts should not be made at such "break-neck" speed. But wasn't it Brown's Labour government which launched such "neck-breaking" cuts in the first place? For instance by cutting tens of thousands of public sector jobs and initiating the drive against the unemployed, the long-term sick and the disabled? It is not for nothing that neither of the two Eds has ever committed himself to reversing any of cuts already made by the ConDems', if and when Labour comes back to office!
Likewise, those speaking for Labour's "alternative" may well argue - rather discreetly - for closing the many tax loopholes through which public funds effectively subsidise the biggest companies and the super wealthy. But wasn't it Labour which created many of these loopholes in the first place, when in government? And isn't it significant that Labour does not even propose to restore corporation tax - the tax on company profits - to its pre-Osborne level, let alone to its pre-Blair level?
What policy for the working class?
If there is a way forward for the working class, it has to be one which puts the onus for footing the bill for the crisis squarely on the capitalist class. After all, they caused it by their profiteering.
Against this rampant crisis, the banking system which is piling up billions again, while hiding the losses of its speculation, should be nationalised as a whole, without compensation. And, this time, unlike under Brown's government, it should be merged into one single bank, under the control of its employees and of the population, instead of being handed over to former bankers!
Against the rising threat of unemployment, job cuts will have to be banned - both in the public and in the private sector. There is more than enough to be done in this society to occupy all available hands, from building the homes needed to resolve the chronic housing shortage in working class areas, to taking care of the elderly, the disabled, the sick and all those who are left on the sidelines. And where there are too many hands, the work available should be shared between everyone, so that no-one is left aside.
Against the threat to workers' standard of living, wages must be raised to a level high enough to make a decent living, regardless of the reduction in working hours resulting from the crisis. And since inflation is raising its head again, wages should be protected by increases in line with real prices, as required and according to a verifiable index, controlled by workers themselves.
These measures are the minimum needed to ensure that the working class does not pay for the crisis. They are not utopian. Collectively, the capitalists are awash with cash. Forcing them to pay is the only way for the working class to protect its interests, and those of the majority of the population, in this crisis.