@currhenry "[Taxes] will reach 38% of GDP, not far off Norway and Sweden." But the Nordic countries' high tax-to-GDP ratios are partly due to a clawback effect - benefits are heavily taxed (directly and indirectly). Net of that the UK will reach Swedish levels. https://t.co/GKMN0J9Gaz

Reeves has tried to pin £26bn of tax rises on a forecast that is only £6bn worse, to fund new welfare spending that was not in Labour's manifesto, having promised not to raise taxes on working people. Regardless of the merits of the policies, how is this not dishonest?

"The budget was further proof of a strangely overlooked fact in British politics: Ms Reeves is a chancellor in the most economically left-wing government of the past five decades." https://t.co/tAOfJTviyI

"The [OBR] gave a sunnier-than-expected outlook for the public finances, raising its deficit forecast for 2029-30 by only £6bn...she produced a vintage Labour tax-and-spend package: £26bn in tax increases in 2029-30 and £11bn in extra spending." https://t.co/qADrJc3GDD

The bodge-it budget "With the deficit still gaping at 4.5% of GDP, Ms Reeves succumbed to her own worst instincts and those of her backbenchers by increasing borrowing, relative to her previous plans, for four years" My leader and our cover story https://t.co/iE5Coigewk

And that's not just because of the forecast downgrade. Policy loosens too (black dot above white dot) until 2029-30

Oh for goodness sake. This is ridiculous. Will lead to challenges over exactly which side of the line properties fall, and fail to deal with fact that super expensive properties will still be undertaxed. Why not do as a proportion of estimated value?

A loosening, compared with previous plans, until 2029...

This is pie in the sky thinking. Utterly incorrect. You can institute a regime of capital controls and financial repression but you literally can’t have free markets and buck them. If you’re going go the dictator route though, best be honest about your intentions.

The fact of the matter is that illiberalism and rejections of neutrality have failed far, far more often and with much dire consequences than any failures of Enlightenment liberalism.

The UK has the most progressive tax system in the developed world, argues @jburnmurdoch. As @duncanrobinson wrote for @TheEconomist, the Tories created an unbelievably progressive system. https://t.co/xwciYwPQzD https://t.co/WHlsKzx5oj

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Reverse compounding, by @currhenry quoting @ChadJonesEcon

https://t.co/dSjkbijnbk

Fiscal dominance watch. In US, Trump demands lower rates to make the debt easier to service. In Japan, new PM says BOJ should not tighten. In UK, Farage opposes QT. And now in the eurozone ...

Debt across advanced economies is higher than ever. Our business affairs editor, @r_shanbhogue, and our economics editor, @currhenry, unpack the crisis brewing in countries’ finances. Learn how disaster can be avoided: https://t.co/E2ycg2LbIp

Tax policy on the British left is pure "anti-bedtime left". Bizarre idea that you can have a big social democratic welfare state without everyone contributing properly

Never understood the consistent appeal of Liz Truss revisionism. A few points: -- Paying for ~1.5% of GDP worth of tax cuts entirely through deficit expansion is, no matter the global macro environment, crackers. -- Doing so when that also means a giant dose of fiscal easing in

A withering critique of British energy policy. "...the future costs of energy in Britain are going to stay high and remain amongst the highest in the developed world...Britain is not going to have cheap energy any time soon – unless there is radical policy action."