Another month, another set of scary numbers on the public finances: the UK government borrowed an additional £36 billion in September and total public debt rose to £2,060 billion, or around 103.5% of national income (GDP). But there is still no need to panic. For a start, the figures are entirely as expected. If anything, … Continue reading How much should we worry about UK government debt?
Category: Fiscal Policy
Fiscal and monetary policies in a time of Covid
Here’s a presentation I gave on 19th October (to A-level economics and business students) on fiscal and monetary policies in the UK, covering topics such as the impact of Covid on the public finances, whether taxes will have to rise to pay for it, whether the BoE should ease further, the pros and cons of … Continue reading Fiscal and monetary policies in a time of Covid
Sunak’s ‘tax bombshell’ is likely to be a damp squib
Here we go again… another day of alarming headlines about a tax ‘bombshell’ set to hit as soon as the Autumn Budget, with a ‘state pension grab’ chucked in too. Fortunately, there isn’t much substance in any of this – at least not yet. Let’s start by contrasting what the Sunday newspapers are saying. The … Continue reading Sunak’s ‘tax bombshell’ is likely to be a damp squib
IEA Debate: Should Capital Gains Tax be abolished?
The Chancellor has asked the Office for Tax Simplification to undertake a review of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to ‘ensure the system is fit for purpose’ and to look again at how capital gains are taxed compared to other types of income. But should he go further and simply abolish CGT completely? Philip Booth, the IEA’s Senior … Continue reading IEA Debate: Should Capital Gains Tax be abolished?
Plain-speaking Economics 