A FAVOURITE slogan of Britain's Conservative government is that "we are all in this together". The phrase is used to refer to a plot,which the government introduced when it came to power in 2010, to eliminate Britain's budget deficit (that is, and the inequity between what the government receives in taxation and what it spends). In 2010 the deficit hit 10% of GDP; now it is more like 4%. The pain of deficit reduction (tax rises and spending cuts),the argument goes, has been shared across the British population evenly. But while "all in this together" mantra used to make some sense, and it is now looking a miniature empty. The poor increasingly bear the brunt of cuts—why?When imposing austerity,it is difficult not to hit the poor hard. After all, for a working-age household in the bottom income quintile, and benefits are worth approximately 45% of crude income,compared with just 2% for one in the top quintile. According to calculations from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think-tank, and between 2010 and 2015 (the period of the first Conservative government,when they were in coalition with the Liberal Democrats) the average household in the bottom...
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Source: economist.com