Efficiency savings urged to ease pain of cuts
from the FT – By Nicholas Timmins Published: March 10 2009 00:39 | Last updated: March 10 2009 00:39 The private sector recession is likely to be followed by a public sector downturn, with big cuts to...
View ArticleBudget 09 – What Would the Tories Do?
While everyone focuses on the Governments plans as set out in Budget 09, let’s pause for a moment and consider the Tories options. Budget 09 projects public sector borrowing to rise to £175bn a year in...
View ArticleUniversities and the Impact of the Recession
I recently attended a ‘professorial dinner’ at Manchester, the purpose of which was to discuss our future strategy. The main message at the start was – universities, after a decade of a relatively...
View ArticlePublic Spending in the UK: Public Sector Debt
The debate on the future of the public finances and especially spending on public services has finally come to the fore after all the diversions of the past few months. What are the crucial questions...
View ArticleDemocracy Demands: Show Us The Money!
In the film Jerry Maguire, Cuba Gooding Jr. famously demands of his Agent Maguire (Tom Cruise) that he “show me the money”. The message (in context) is simple – no amount of smooth talking from his...
View ArticleParliament and Public Spending – interesting letter
I thought the following letter was an interesting addition to discussion about Parlaiment’s role in deciding budgets (see also my post on PF Blog) from former civil and public servant Des McConaghy....
View ArticleCould Budget 2015 lead to our very own version of the Washington Shut Down?
“The last government defeat over estimates was in 1921 … nowadays any amendment would be tantamount to a vote of no confidence.” (Whener, 2010: p8). Could we see, in March 2015, the first example of a...
View ArticleThere is life beyond austerity; now give us the freedom to make it happen
During Manchester Policy Week, four leading thinktanks debated what government might look like beyond the General Election and towards 2020. In an abridged version of his speech at the event IPPR...
View ArticleThe last thing Whitehall needs is a Chief Financial Officer
It has been announced that the Treasury is to create a new chief financial officer role for central government. Professor Colin Talbot argues this is simply another impressive-sounding but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
All this talk about balancing the budget is …
Remember the Maastricht criteria? No, I didn’t think so. Nor apparently do Britain’s political leaders, based on their manifestos for tackling the UK’s deficit. The Maastricht Criteria were the...
View Article