I’m relatively relaxed about the fiscal costs of Covid: UK government borrowing will drop sharply as the economy recovers; the increase in the debt burden is manageable; and there’s no need to ‘pay for Covid’ with ‘austerity’ of any kind. (See my earlier blog explaining How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Debt.) … Continue reading Why fiscal responsibility still matters
Tag: government borrowing
Six things the Chancellor should (or shouldn’t) do to boost the recovery
On Wednesday Rishi Sunak will announce a one-year Spending Review for 2021-22. This will not be a full Budget, but there is still a huge amount of mostly unhelpful speculation about what might be in it, and what’s coming next. There does at seem to be a broad consensus that the Chancellor should ‘go for growth’. … Continue reading Six things the Chancellor should (or shouldn’t) do to boost the recovery
The Chancellor should continue to let the deficit take the strain
On Wednesday (25th) the Chancellor will announce the results of a one-year Spending Review, setting departmental limits for 2021-22. This will not be a full Budget – let alone a multi-year programme of tax increases or spending cuts. But there is still a huge amount of (mostly unhelpful) speculation about what might be in it, … Continue reading The Chancellor should continue to let the deficit take the strain
How much should we worry about UK government debt?
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?
