The funding pressures are genuine. But expecting to be “fully” compensated by central Government is unrealistic.
Two extreme versions of what happens next in Britain. Events are more likely to end up somewhere in the middle.
The reason we will get away with it again, as we did in the banking crash, is that there is so much deflation around, inflation is not a problem.
The theoretical aim of policy then should be bridging over what is hopefully a short pause in activity – eliminating near-term distress for households and businesses.
The implications of the crisis are such that Johnson and Sunak need not so much to think outside the box as to trample it to tatters altogether.
The fact that Darlington station was explicitly addressed in his statement is a great sign of how swiftly the Chancellor has mastered the detail of his brief.
It may be necessary, given the Coronavirus, and could even work. But Britain has a long, long record of state spending failing to turbo-charge growth.
“This is the Budget of a Government that gets things done…A Budget that delivers on our promises.”
The Coronavirus will punch a hole in Sunak’s sums sufficient to throw levelling-up, Boosterism, Brexit bonuses – what have you – off course.
The Treasury often fails to recognise the potential benefits of lower taxes, because they don’t properly factor in how behaviour changes.
We are in danger of losing sight of the simple truth which has been a favoured phrase of Tory politicians through the ages: borrowing today is simply taxation deferred.
If there’s one thing which ought to unite even the most passionate partisans of the different proposals, it’s the abject state of British decision-making on infrastructure.
My answer would be “maybe, provided the spending or tax cuts significantly improved our growth potential.”
They keep changing. But does it matter? For the last 30 years, when it comes to the public finances, the diet always starts tomorrow.
When a drop in the curve of the virus is seen, the public’s health mustn’t be endangered by a blinkered pursuit of balancing the books.