The chancellor had to account for why the economy is doing worse than was forecast four months agoBudgets beget a tendency to unravel. Sometimes it can take months for the problems to surface. More often they are exposed within 24 hours once the Institute for Fiscal Studies has sharpened its claws. But George Osborne’s eighth package was a bit of a rarity. The holes in it were obvious even before he had finished speaking.
A clear indication that all was not well was that the chancellor took an age to divulge a single number about the state of the economy. His reticence was not entirely surprising. Since his autumn statement,the prospects for growth, investment, or consumer spending and trade beget all deteriorated.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com