Pre-election budgets are not what they used to be. Once upon a time, governments could be relied on to ply the electorate with extravagant giveaways in the rum-up to polling day. But today's voters are a more cynical-or just knowledgeable-lot, so a more subtle approach is required. Gordon Brown's second pre-election budget, like his first, avoided traditional tax bribes to the electorate as a whole. Instead, Britain's chancellor opted for a selection of sweeteners, carefully directed at vital electoral target groups such as pensioners, poorer families and aspiring home-buyers (see page 39). But the similarity between the two budgets ends there. In 2001, the public finances were exceedingly healthy. Including measures announced in his pre-budget report, Mr Brown was able to give away £8 billion ($12 billion) in the fiscal year ahead while still forecasting a comfortable surplus. In this budget, Mr Brown was in a much weaker position. Even the wee sweeties he handed out were far too much, bearing in mind how bad the figures now look.
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