Sunday Times: "Tories right on cuts, say Economists"
Today's Sunday Times publishes a letter from a number of leading economists about the need to tackle Britain's public sector deficit and has a front page headline about the fact that their recommendations are extremely similar to Conservative Policy.
You can read the letter itself here, and the article by the paper's Economics editor, David Smith, here.
The article begins with the words
"Leading economists say the government lacks a credible plan to cut Britain’s budget deficit and that action to reduce the country’s borrowing should start immediately after the election.
"In an endorsement of the Conservatives’ position and an attack on Labour — although the economists insist they are non-partisan — they warn that a failure to act could trigger a loss of confidence that could push up interest rates, undermine the pound and threaten the recovery."
As the Sunday Times leader points out here,
"The signatories of this letter are serious people. They include several former members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee; a former deputy governor of the Bank and head of the Financial Services Authority; a former chief economist of the IMF and a Labour peer."
Conservative Home describes here the following similarities between the points being made by these Economists and the arguments being advanced by the Conservatives:
1."The next government should set out a detailed plan to reduce the structural budget deficit more quickly than set out in the 2009 pre-budget report." That's Tory policy.
2."The government’s goal should be to eliminate the structural current budget deficit over the course of a parliament." That's almost Tory policy. The party promises to eliminate the bulk of the structural deficit.
3."There is a compelling case, all else being equal, for the first measures beginning to take effect in the 2010-11 fiscal year." That's Tory policy.
4."The bulk of this fiscal consolidation should be borne by reductions in government spending." That's Tory policy.
You can read the letter itself here, and the article by the paper's Economics editor, David Smith, here.
The article begins with the words
"Leading economists say the government lacks a credible plan to cut Britain’s budget deficit and that action to reduce the country’s borrowing should start immediately after the election.
"In an endorsement of the Conservatives’ position and an attack on Labour — although the economists insist they are non-partisan — they warn that a failure to act could trigger a loss of confidence that could push up interest rates, undermine the pound and threaten the recovery."
As the Sunday Times leader points out here,
"The signatories of this letter are serious people. They include several former members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee; a former deputy governor of the Bank and head of the Financial Services Authority; a former chief economist of the IMF and a Labour peer."
Conservative Home describes here the following similarities between the points being made by these Economists and the arguments being advanced by the Conservatives:
1."The next government should set out a detailed plan to reduce the structural budget deficit more quickly than set out in the 2009 pre-budget report." That's Tory policy.
2."The government’s goal should be to eliminate the structural current budget deficit over the course of a parliament." That's almost Tory policy. The party promises to eliminate the bulk of the structural deficit.
3."There is a compelling case, all else being equal, for the first measures beginning to take effect in the 2010-11 fiscal year." That's Tory policy.
4."The bulk of this fiscal consolidation should be borne by reductions in government spending." That's Tory policy.
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