Storing up problems

摘要

The recovery may have been a long time coming but is it certainly upon us now. The uptick in growth is real and is bringing a welcome increase in jobs in its wake. Of course growth is pretty anaemic compared with what we normally get after a massive downturn and, unlike many other countries, we are not yet back to the level of output before the crash. The chancellor therefore knows he has to be careful. Talk of the boom times that some of the press have headlined with does not go down well with a British public who, on the whole, still feel pretty up against it. So far, so good. But of course there are plenty of public sector cuts still to come as the recent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) green budget reminded us.