Is this the end of politics?

For many of us, supporting the bloated state is fast becoming unaffordable. Something has to give, says Merryn Somerset Webb - and the internet may have the answer.

I'm reading the latest investment report from Troy Asset Management. It takes a brief look at the idea that a deflationary shock might come from the arrival of the US fiscal cliff at the end of 2012 (the fiscal cliff refers to the moment when the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 come into effect and taxes rise as spending cuts start).

The conclusion? "If the past is any guide to the future, politicians will look into the abyss and raise the federal debt ceiling, as they always have since 1917." That makes sense particularly if, like me, you've just been reading Douglas Carswell's latest book, The End of Politics.

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.