George Osborne’s plan to enshrine permanent budget surpluses in law is a political gimmick that ignores “basic economics”, a group of academic economists has warned.
Responding to the chancellor’s Mansion House speech earlier this week, they said a law forcing the government to cut spending or raise taxes every year to generate a budget surplus, characterised as Micawber economics, would suck the economy dry and within a few years could trigger another credit crunch.
In a letter to the Guardian, coordinated by the Centre for Labour and Social Studies, 77 of the best-known academic economists, including French economist Thomas Piketty and Cambridge professor Ha-Joon Chang, said the chancellor was turning a blind eye to the complexities of a 21st-century economy that demanded governments remain flexible and responsive to changing global events.
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And George Osborne's background is what exactly I wonder ? <Checks, ineveitably, Wikipedia> Okay, nothing wrong with a degree in Modern History is there ? And tried his hand at 'journalism' for...The Telegraph...okay. What's that about a flat tax ? When was that ? When he was back at public school perhaps ?...
2005. Oh G-d...
* BTW, Grauniad, who the hell chooses the pictures for your articles ? Why would you choose that crop other than to fill the damn space with text ? And what is the choice of picture meant to convey ? That Osborne is a privileged Toff ? Or that he's James Bond ?...
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