Let's face it, the financial markets would prefer we lived in a dictatorship

As Lib Dem Voice reports, Vince Cable has had a go in the FT at those who claim that a hung Parliament would cause panic in the financial markets. By extension, these critics are attacking any form of proportional representation on the basis that it would be more likely to lead to no overall majority.

Vince's answer is to point out that some of the most stable economies in the world have PR systems and coalition governments. Conversely, some of the biggest financial problems happen in countries with single party governments, like Greece at the moment.

I would go further than Vince. For the past two years of so we have had financial markets wobbling despite the 'certainty' of a Labour Government with a secure majority. They wobble for the last 12 months or more of any Parliament when the outcome of the next election is in doubt in any way.

It seems to me that, if we really just wanted to acquiesce to the market's desire for stability, we ought to abolish elections altogether. A nice stable dictatorship is really what the market needs.

This is just another example of financial market hubris. Yet again 'The City' is dictating how the country should be run with no acknowledgement on their part of their own mistakes or of the wider needs of society.