Bring back balanced budgets

Britain’s soaring debt may not be as sustainable in the long term as figures suggest

HAVE THE TORY POLITIcians in charge of our public finances since 2010 been financial magicians? As will soon be explained, in their years in office the state has borrowed more — relative to national output — than in any previous period of similar length in British peacetime history. Yet somehow the debt position remains respectable by international standards. How have they accomplished this feat? Consider the following numbers, which are sourced from the International Monetary Fund’s magnificent database and show “general government net lending/borrowing (i.e., the budget deficit) as a percentage of gross domestic product” for the years of Conservative rule. (The IMF prepares these numbers for 196 of its member countries!) Year Deficit as a percentage of GDP 2010 -9.253 2011 -7.420 2012 -7.496 2013 -5.382 2014 -5.576 2015…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2024

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