The Telegraph, November 5, Professor Patrick Minford
The implosion of Liz Truss’s mini-Budget and the subsequent collapse of her administration are in danger of doing the UK economy grave long-term damage.
The new regime of Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt is on course to learn all the wrong lessons from the turmoil in the markets, which brought down their predecessors and triggered an abrupt and futile change of policy.
Truss was right to prioritise growth.Her prescription of tax cuts and supply-side reforms – all aimed at getting the economy moving and so boosting output, jobs and business expansion, and ultimately tax revenues for public services – was the right one.
The tragedy was that she and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng failed to produce the documentary evidence that would reassure the markets that their tax cuts would be covered by faster growth. Poor presentation and communication proved their downfall.
The danger now is serious. Sunak and Hunt are set on a course that will turn a stagnant economy into a shrinking one, with unemployment rising, firms folding and the quality of public services declining even more.
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