There’s an expression, widely used in the movies and eventually adopted by The Simpsons: “Why won’t somebody please think of the children?” For some time now, I and plenty of other economists have had a variation on this: “Why won’t somebody please think of the public finances?”
A few days ago, as everybody’s attention was occupied by the new inflation figures and the prime minister’s subsequent election announcement, the latest official figures for the public finances were released.
They showed that last month, public sector net borrowing — the deficit — was £20.5 billion, the fourth-highest on record and a level not seen since the worst of the pandemic. The Office for National Statistics also revised up the net borrowing total for 2023-24
