Liz Truss has pledged to put Covid debt on a ‘longer-term footing’ as part of her bid to become the next Prime Minister. The details are sketchy, but the proposal seems to be to extend the maturity of £311 billion of pandemic-related borrowing to lock in low interest rates, and to slow the pace of … Continue reading Is Liz Truss on the right track on ‘Covid debt’?
Tag: public debt
Making the case for tax cuts
Everyone is supposed to have their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps I have just had mine, after the contenders for the Tory leadership were invited to endorse the ‘Charter for tax cuts’ that I co-wrote for Conservative Way Forward. It was certainly pretty cool to be namechecked at the launch event on Monday both by … Continue reading Making the case for tax cuts
Is the OBR right to warn against tax cuts?
On Thursday the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the government’s independent fiscal watchdog, published its latest annual report on the long-term sustainability of the public finances and the fiscal risks facing the UK. This made for grim reading, as these reports always do. But this time, the report has been widely interpreted as a warning … Continue reading Is the OBR right to warn against tax cuts?
Is the Treasury ‘crying wolf’ over the debt interest bill?
The latest data on the UK’s public finances have provided more ammunition for those arguing that the government cannot afford to cut taxes. However, the economic reality is far more nuanced – especially when it comes to debt interest payments. The bad news is that the government borrowed another £14.0 billion in May, £3.7bn more … Continue reading Is the Treasury ‘crying wolf’ over the debt interest bill?
Plain-speaking Economics 