The Chancellor’s Spring Statement sent a signal of “steady as she goes”. Unfortunately, what was really needed is a change of course. There was plenty of party political knockabout, but no major policy announcements and nothing to lift the spirits of consumers or businesses. This might have been fine if all were well. But there is little … Continue reading Spring Statement was yet another missed opportunity
Category: Budget
Better UK economic news owes little to Labour’s policy choices
Friday was a relatively good day for UK economic data, with the latest news on the public finances, retail sales, and the PMI survey all better than expected. This followed Wednesday’s confirmation that headline inflation fell back in January. But is this really evidence that the worst is over – and are the Labour government … Continue reading Better UK economic news owes little to Labour’s policy choices
The hard sell: Britain needs to step up to fund its own defence
The BBC is reporting today that the Prime Minister is considering a significant increase in defence spending or, more precisely, that Keir Starmer is looking at bringing forward increases that have already been promised. The Labour government has previously committed to raising core defence spending from a little under 2.5% of national income currently to the new … Continue reading The hard sell: Britain needs to step up to fund its own defence
“The OBR: 15 years on”
I recently submitted some written evidence (or at least some opinions!) to the Treasury Select Committee’s new inquiry reflecting on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) first 15 years. In case of wider interest, I have pasted the text below (in the format requested by the Committee). Written evidence to the Treasury Select Committee Submitted by … Continue reading “The OBR: 15 years on”
Plain-speaking Economics 