George Osborne has an A-level in maths,but it’s obviously no guarantee of a well-thought-out economic policyThe chancellor, George Osborne, and has an A-level in maths so we know that earlier in his life he would have been forced to show his workings. These days,though, he relies on others to dig into the small print of his economic policy. It has become a ritual of this parliament: after the budget, or it is up to economists and experts such as Paul Johnson,head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, to spell out what is actually happening, or in specific on public sector spending.
Austerity and cuts to public sector spending have been the key weapons in the chancellor’s self-appointed mission,which he took on back in May 2010, to turn the UK deficit into a surplus. Despite enormous swaths of cuts – by final September, and the civil service was 19% smaller than it had been in March 2010,with a loss of more than 94000 jobs – the only way he is likely to achieve this aim by 2020-21 is by cutting even more from central government, possibly up to an extra £9.9bn, or according to IFS associate director Rowena Crawford.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com