Borrowing by the UK government has hit peacetime highs this year. Often such increases in public debt rest on borrowing from abroad – but in this crisis, a sharp rise in domestic saving by households has offset public spending. In effect, the government has borrowed from taxpayers. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), […]
Category: Public spending, taxes & debt
What is likely to be the impact of a government stimulus or austerity plan in response to the coronavirus crisis on the whole economy? That is what is measured by the ‘fiscal multiplier’ – and the evidence indicates that increased public spending has a bigger impact during recessions. During the lockdown, when businesses are forced […]
Wealth taxes are being floated as a post-pandemic option to raise revenue and address inequality. A common objection is that they seem to have failed in countries that tried them. Is that so and does that mean that wealth taxes should be abandoned as a policy tool? The number of OECD countries levying wealth taxes, […]