News
Head of government’s financial watchdog issues stinging rebuke of its economic plan
The Tories' 2017 election mantra just received another kicking.
Office for Budget Responsibility
Whatever Osborne’s growth forecasts today, the reality is probably worse
Today's growth and borrowing forecasts are likely to be grim - they are just as likely to be over optimistic.
The OBR, personal debt and the living standards gap
The Resolution Foundation's Gavin Kelly and Matthew Whittaker look at whether squeezed households will really borrow more to prop up living standards.
OBR inflation figures mean budget cuts for health and schools
New inflation estimates by the OBR mean that the NHS and schools budget will fall in real terms over the spending review period. The Government had promised promised a 0.4 per cent increase in NHS funding.
OBR: Recovery “at a slower pace” than in the 70s, 80s and 90s
Tomorrow’s papers will probably note the forecast that, by 2015, public sector employment will fall by 330,000, one hundred and sixty thousand less than the 490,000 forecast in June. 30,000 of the difference is down to “methodological refinements”. The remaining 130,000 reduction is because the Spending Review cut more from social security and less from Departmental budgets than OBR expected – a different balance of misery, rather than a genuine improvement.