A few days ago we commented on the United Kingdom’s or, more specifically, Gordon Brown’s new tax plan. It seems the Economist agrees that, although it’s a difficult job for anyone, Brown decided to make some very wrong decisions:
A hard job, not least because he could not blame his predecessor for the mess; but one in which candour, above all, was necessary. Instead came two all-too-political sleights of hand: a string of over-optimistic economic assumptions and the misleading message that soaking the rich could absolve the other 98% of the population from personal sacrifice.
Once again, we will see how this pans out. To us it seems very dangerous, though, to score political points by playing around with a national budget.
I take the liberty of adding Fraser Neslon’s reaction to the UK Budget, as posted on The Spectator website, which follows along these lines:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/3558126/the-top-ten-brownies-of-budget-2009.thtml