A budget for unusual times
I remain committed to small government, to the strategy of fixing the roof while the sun is shining, to keeping deficits and the total level of debt under control.
I am also a pragmatist who believes that you may have to modify your tactics to fit the situation on the ground in front of you - to use a military analogy, don't keep re-fighting the last war with tactics which won then but will get your men killed today, and don't assume that the tactics which worked in the desert will work in the mountains or the Normandy bocage.
My quote for today was the quote famously attributed to the great economist John Maynard Keynes that "When the facts change, I change my mind" and although there is no proof that he ever said it, there is plenty of proof that he wrote an awful lot of things about the conditions which can cause a recession which look horribly relevant to what an economy which has taken a hit from Covid-19 might look like.
The key challenge facing Rishi Sunak yesterday was to make every effort to make sure that Covid-19 doesn't cause a recession, or at least limit the depth, duration and damage if it does, and help families, individuals and businesses through the difficult period which is probably about to hit us.
I don't think anyone knows how bad the Coronavirus outbreak of which we are in the early stages is going to be. I do think that the measures which were announced in yesterday's budget - both the billions of pounds for the NHS and public services, and support for those directly affected, and the measures to help businesses keep afloat and to keep people spending money so that the economy does not go down the plug-hole as it did in the early 30s - look like a reasonable and proportionate attempt to deal with it.
This doesn't look much like the sort of budget you would normally expect from a Conservative chancellor. It does look exactly like the sort of budget which makes sense in these special and unusual circumstances.
Times journalist Phil Collins tweeted yesterday
"Don't waste your time saying "but then Tories believed x and now they believe y". This is their secret. They adapt, they change, they respond to what is in front of them."
Not sure it's much of a secret but apart from that he's got it in one.
And as I tweeted in response, that is one of the reasons why the political movement which was called the Tories when it emerged in the 1660s - usually called the Conservative party today - is still around more than 350 years later.
I am also a pragmatist who believes that you may have to modify your tactics to fit the situation on the ground in front of you - to use a military analogy, don't keep re-fighting the last war with tactics which won then but will get your men killed today, and don't assume that the tactics which worked in the desert will work in the mountains or the Normandy bocage.
My quote for today was the quote famously attributed to the great economist John Maynard Keynes that "When the facts change, I change my mind" and although there is no proof that he ever said it, there is plenty of proof that he wrote an awful lot of things about the conditions which can cause a recession which look horribly relevant to what an economy which has taken a hit from Covid-19 might look like.
The key challenge facing Rishi Sunak yesterday was to make every effort to make sure that Covid-19 doesn't cause a recession, or at least limit the depth, duration and damage if it does, and help families, individuals and businesses through the difficult period which is probably about to hit us.
I don't think anyone knows how bad the Coronavirus outbreak of which we are in the early stages is going to be. I do think that the measures which were announced in yesterday's budget - both the billions of pounds for the NHS and public services, and support for those directly affected, and the measures to help businesses keep afloat and to keep people spending money so that the economy does not go down the plug-hole as it did in the early 30s - look like a reasonable and proportionate attempt to deal with it.
This doesn't look much like the sort of budget you would normally expect from a Conservative chancellor. It does look exactly like the sort of budget which makes sense in these special and unusual circumstances.
Times journalist Phil Collins tweeted yesterday
"Don't waste your time saying "but then Tories believed x and now they believe y". This is their secret. They adapt, they change, they respond to what is in front of them."
Not sure it's much of a secret but apart from that he's got it in one.
And as I tweeted in response, that is one of the reasons why the political movement which was called the Tories when it emerged in the 1660s - usually called the Conservative party today - is still around more than 350 years later.
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