Do we treat the government finances with the common sense that household’s manage theirs?
Read MoreDoes a Fiscal Debt Target Make Sense?
public debt
A Fiscal Fantasyland?
The May 4 issue of the London “Economist” headlined that ‘Governments are living in a fiscal fantasyland’. It focussed on the four biggest economies – the US, China, EU and Japan – although many smaller ones would also illustrate its proposition, that each was losing control of its fiscal position with rising government debt.
Read MoreHow is the Economy Doing?
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock.
Read MoreWhat the 2020 Budget Forecasts Mean
The media treat budgets as bit of a circus: lots of theatre and soon forgotten. For a serious economist they show how a team of economists is thinking about the wider economy.
Read MoreHe’s Spent It All
The just published PREFU, Treasury’s assessment of the economy, raises more important questions about our fiscal stance than what the election is talking about. Have we the right borrowing strategy?
Read MoreGrumpiness and Government Spending
The policy dimension of the election appears to be about the concerns with past restraints on government spending and the consequential social failures. But whatever the rhetoric, implementation of campaign promises is going to be much harder.
Read MoreThe Context of the 2017 Budget
Much of the commentary on the budget was shallow. What is really going on is that the changes are small but they reflect a particular political perspective. The financial threat was hardly discussed
Read MoreAusterians vs Fiscal Conservatives
Managing the government’s fiscal deficit need not mean cutting social expenditure.
Read MoreThe Budget: A Longer Term Prognosis.
A major preoccupation of the budget was preparing for the next major financial crisis. To do so it is reducing government spending relative to GDP. Where do tax cuts fit in?
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