Autumn Statement 2013
The Chancellor gave his mid-year summary of the UK’s position to the House yesterday. He said
Mr Speaker,
Britain’s economic plan is working.
For those of you unfamiliar with the UK economy, here are some headline charts:
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I don’t know what the Chancellor’s counterfactual is but I struggle to imagine much worse than the outcome since 2007. Unsurprisingly, so did every economic forecaster for the past six years. It is debatable how much of the blame for this economic disaster rests with the Chancellor but it’s certainly not the sort of picture I’d want to claim as my legacy! Unsurprisingly, George Osborne’s political instincts have turned out to be far better than mine.
Vindication for Chancellor Osborne’s strategy
The day that proved George Osborne austerity plan is working
The New Economics Foundation has some great analysis of the autumn statement, needless to say Osborne’s legacy doesn’t look like much to be proud of…
The NEF does some really good work but I’m a bit sceptical of their Autumn Statement analysis. For example, they point to low investment as a major problem that the Chancellor hasn’t mentioned. The investment stats are really just a response to low growth, not Government policy. With the PMI and growth figures looking stronger I’d expect investment to pick up over the next year, whatever the AS announced.
http://www.positivemoney.org/2013/12/george-osborne-misses-real-debt-problem/
Want to fix the economy? Then you need to fix the debt problem.