Much political journalism these days seems to be written by people who would rather be sports reporters. Who’s in the team, who’s heading for relegation or who had a good game are more frequently written about than the policy or ideological issues that are at stake.

Filed under: Liveblogging the PBR, Politics | No Comments »

A lot of people I speak to are expressing some bemusement at the Conservative Party’s increasingly hard line on Brown’s fiscal stimulus policy and are trying to come up with explanations.  Many wonder if Osborne’s and Cameron’s recent statements represent some irresistible pressure for a return to full-blooded Thatcherism demanded by the Tory grassroots and The Daily [...]

Filed under: Financial crisis, Macro-economic policy, Politics, Recession, Tax | No Comments »

I have heard it said that in a crisis, one’s true nature shows through.  In this economic crisis, Brown is revealing the Keynesian he kept under wraps so well for a decade. While Osborne is revealing the Thatcherite that the Tories have been so keen to hide since Cameron took over.  As a result, the dividing lines [...]

Filed under: Employment, Financial crisis, Macro-economic policy, Politics, Recession | No Comments »

I wrote some time ago about the possibility of using tax cuts as a stimulus to the economy during recession and made particular comparisons with the scheme introduced in the States earlier this year.  Obama also made economic stimulus through tax cuts a central plank of his campaign and he announced last week that he [...]

Filed under: Macro-economic policy, Tax | 2 Comments »

When the economy is growing and unemployment low, political debate is about how to distribute the fruits of growth.
Of course that can be intense and ideological. In as much as there has been a dominant issue in recent elections, it has been tax cuts v public services. But just as easily the debate becomes a difference in emphasis that does little [...]

Filed under: Financial crisis, Politics | 1 Comment »