The first is that it often spurts all too eagerly from the craggy jaws of Gordon Brown. Is it me, or is his mush looking more and more like a Google Earth view of the Cairngorms? Apart from the annoying habit where he buries his tongue in his lower lip after every sentence, watching him speak is like watching several lumps of dough bouncing round a washing machine.
I reckon one of the reasons why "fiscal stimulus" has been seized upon so keenly by the media is because it sounds nice when you say it. "Fiscal stimulus". There's a pleasing assonance in there, and lots of sibilant s's to slip off the tongue. This doesn't apply if you have a lisp: "fithcal thimuluth" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
Also, I think "fiscal stimulus" sounds vaguely sexual, which is my second problem with it. Every time I hear it I think it's describing an act of sexual gratification using a clenched hand. Either I have a warped mind, or my dubious interpretation nevertheless accurately describes what our leaders are doing to the economy.
My next problem with "fiscal stimulus" is that it's one of those phrases that disappear as fast as they appear, always to the convenience of those who coin them in the first place. It's disposable language, invented by spin doctors and clever PR. It'll go the way of "weapons of mass destruction" (which was replaced by "regime change") when the political and media agenda move on. Expect "fiscal stimulus" to disappear as quickly as "credit crunch", to be replaced by phrases along the lines of "improved public spending efficiencies", "adjusted tax thresholds" and "pension recalculations."
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