The Chancellor will have have more money to play with than was forecast. How he uses these additional resources will tell us a great deal about his priorities.
We should pause for breath, inject some rational thinking and consider the alternatives before it’s too late.
The first piece in a mini-series on ConHome this week on Net Zero and climate change.
The problem is that spiralling spending demands quickly use up the options which voters don’t notice. Eventually you need other big sources of revenue,
Investment in this infrastructure can create thousands of jobs and opportunities in new areas.
Both the short and long term implications of this rise are baleful. Demography is destiny – and the Government should act.
What we need is to promote a higher wage, higher productivity economy. Our economic targets should reflect those aims.
Preventing as much long-term damage to the economy as possible now should be the Chancellor’s priority.
Conservative messaging implies an implicit belief that there are no major state functions ripe for reform in any fiscal repair.
Furthermore, the world will soon realise that Brexit is no disaster but rather a big positive which could harness growth.
We need to have a debate about which taxes are least damaging to economic growth. Over the long term, corporation tax ranks as being one of the worst.
Opposition politicians are wrong in their assessment of the country’s economic response to Covid.
If it were the critical factor, Belgium should have been superbly prepared for the pandemic. Alas, it was not.
The first piece in a ConHome mini-series this week on industrial strategy after the pandemic.
A dedicated body could focus on scrutinising the economy and effectiveness of future plans. Australia and New Zealand already have similar models.