Guest Post: Benjamin from Harry's Place on the Budget
In a matter of months, Benjamin Mackie has under various guises become the central figure of the Harry's Place comments section with his instant replies to anything and everything anyone says. Despite his leftism, I asked him to give his view of the Budget, and he was kind enough to accept. - Peter
The Economist deploys the typical old nonsense when it comes to last week's Budget.
GORDON BROWN'S eighth budget was about politics, not economics.
No, it's a budget, so it's about both. :)
Given how fast the budget deficit has been growing, a prudent custodian of the public finances would be raising taxes or cutting spending. But, with an election likely next year, neither was uppermost in Mr Brown's mind. Instead, he kept his budget neutral, stayed rather quiet about the state of the public finances and had a great deal to say about the economy.
Typical Tory waffle. What has this got to do with anything?
The economy is Labour's biggest electoral asset.
LOL! This time Nu-Lab spin! Why can't he think for himself?
But if the economy is strong, the public finances are not.
More ad hominems. So shallow and predictable. How low will the Economist sink in its attacks on progressives and public spending?
Four years ago, at a similar point in the electoral cycle, Mr Brown's fiscal position was impregnable, with a surplus of £15 billion ($27 billion). Now he has a deficit of £38 billion - 3.4% of GDP. He is forecasting deficits of £33 billion in 2004-05 and £31 billion the year after.
Lies, damned lies and statistics! This pretentious drivel may just make it into Pseud's Corner in Private Eye!
It seems the Nu-Lab/Daily Mail mob can't make any relevant argument that doesn't mean ad hominems. All they can offer is the same false divide between good and bad.
That tells you all you need to know about how good the budget was.
