IN tough economic times such as these, there tends to be a lot more pointing of fingers, from the public and politicians alike. Politicians tend to point fingers to further their own ends. And they often do their level best to act as a catalyst to boost finger-pointing among the population at large.

We have, in recent months, seen this phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic, driven by the UK’s referendum on European Union membership and now the US Presidential election.

In the UK, the rash of finger-pointing has probably been going on for eight years or so, triggered by the global financial crisis and ensuing deep recession. It was, thereafter, encouraged by austerity-obsessed Conservative politicians who at times seemed intent on demonising the poor and vulnerable.

However, although finger-pointing has been prevalent for years now in the UK, it has certainly intensified woefully in the run-up to, and aftermath of, the June 23 Brexit vote. And there appears to have been a spectacular intensification of finger-pointing in the US, fuelled seemingly in large part by Donald Trump’s rambunctious and divisive, but ultimately successful, election campaign.

Deplorably, in both the UK and US, immigrants appear in recent months to have borne the brunt of the finger-pointing.

The root cause of the finger-pointing problem on both sides of the Atlantic seems to be that many people are unhappy with their lot, financially.

Since the start of the global financial crisis, and particularly from 2010 when the Conservatives’ austerity began, many UK households have had a miserable time.

The US economy has fared much better than the UK and has not, under President Barack Obama, faced an ideology of austerity such as that on this side of the Atlantic. It is worth noting UK austerity has not achieved its stated aims in relation to the public finances, probably because it choked off growth. It now looks like the austerity will be reined in by Chancellor Philip Hammond, with the detrimental impact of Brexit being touted as the reason.

The US has, under President Obama, also seen major moves forward on healthcare provision.

However, while the Obama administration looks to have done a very good job on various economic and social fronts, the US has like other countries also had its troubles, not least in its traditional manufacturing heartlands. Disaffection in the US “rust belt”, in days gone by known as the “factory belt”, was cited as a key factor in the Trump victory.

It is true recessions or depressions caused by a financial crisis are far more deep-rooted and difficult to clamber out of than more conventional boom-and-bust cycles, such as those in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s. Household finances are squeezed for a long, long time. It is miserable for most, and far worse still for some.

However, while we should perhaps not be surprised by the finger-pointing in the UK or US, it is truly lamentable.

By its very nature, from the football pitch to the political arena, finger-pointing is not constructive. More importantly, the at times hysterical finger-pointing that is going on has not been in any way rational.

It would perhaps be understandable if people were still focusing their annoyance on some of those people at the top levels of the global financial sector when it dragged the world into crisis nearly a decade ago.

But instead many people on both sides of the Atlantic seem, somehow, to have been persuaded that it has been immigrants, whether from Eastern Europe or Mexico or wherever, who have made their lot worse. That these incomers have in an economic sense taken money that might otherwise have been in the pockets of the finger-pointers instead.

It is the unsavoury politics of envy, seen often in straitened times.

And some politicians have appeared keen to fuel this envy. Almost like the operators of string puppets, you can see the hands of some politicians making the pulling motion to ensure the arms of some of the electorate are raised and the fingers extended at the immigrants.

Thus, the lurch to the political right is achieved by the puppet-masters, ultimately at the expense of many of the people they have influenced. History indicates that severe economic troubles are often followed by rightward lurches.

However, there is absolutely no rational basis for pointing fingers at immigrants. The argument from those who do so seems to be this: there is not enough to go around so why let immigrants have a share?

History has surely shown immigration boosts economies. Businesses are created by the new arrivals, often with great energy, motivation and hard work, and new ideas are brought.

The US, built on immigration, should know this as well as any country.

US manufacturing is undoubtedly facing challenges, hit by the forces of globalisation and other countries’ move up the value chain. Some things can be made more cheaply elsewhere.

But the manufacturing successes of Germany and Japan, and indeed the US, show there is still plenty that can be made economically in developed economies. Even in the UK’s much-reduced manufacturing sector, there are plenty of success stories.

Relentless globalisation means we live in a different world now. Protectionism, through the likes of huge tariffs on imports, might appeal to many in the “rust belt”, but it is not the answer for the world’s largest economy or its people. Immigration and free trade can create a bigger whole, in which everyone can share.

That is not to say things are going to get easier any time soon. They may well get harder. But pointing fingers in the wrong direction, and acting irrationally, will certainly only make matters worse.