Which party is sounder on the public finances?

摘要

With its usual impeccable timing, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has issued its analysis of how the three main political parties intend balancing the books should they be in government next May. And don't think the politicians can bamboozle the IFS. As anyone who has attended The MJ Future Forum in March knows, IFS director Paul Johnson's speciality is to take the Budget apart. He was at it again this week casting scepticism over Ed Balls' Labour conference pledge to show how tough he would be on public spending by freezing child benefit. The coalition's fiscal mandate is that the cyclically-adjusted current budget should be in balance or surplus by 2019, which it can meet, assuming the extra spending cuts outlined post-2015 go ahead. Conservative policy now is to aim for a budget surplus, but this implies a further cut of £37.6bn on top of the £8.7bn earmarked for 2015/16.