The Autumn Statement

Whilst he was at it Osborne could have included the upgrade of the A21 to a dual carriageway for its entire length to bring greater prosperity to the South East corner of England. Although I suspect politically the Autumn Statement was a success I doubt it will be so from an economic point of view. It takes a gamble on the OBR's figures on growth being correct whereas on each occasion so far they have been wildly optimistic. Apart from hoping growth will be enough to provide the money to pay for his stimulants Osborne is to increase the bank levy. He is to help pensioners, SMEs, first time buyers, stalled construction projects, social tenants to buy their houses, commuters by holding down fare rises, infrastructure projects, and the building of more free schools. It would surely have been better to reduce corporation and personal taxes to encourage growth and to have stimulated the construction of infrastructure projects by proper tax and planning regimes. This is the kind of thing that would attract developers of e.g. the new Thames Estuary Airport. Osborne will be praised rightly for limiting pay increases in the civil service to 1% although to have cut back on the bloated numbers would have been much better for the economy. Cancellation of the January increase in fuel duty will be welcome but again fuel duty should be reduced and paid for by the cancellation of all the subsidies for wind farms and solar panels. A further tax increase on those travelling by air is though unfair. Osborne will be praised for reviewing the level of Overseas Aid and has at least been realistic on another green issue by saying that he will take action to help industry high energy users. If the euro collapses, which I understand foreign exchange brokers were considering almost inevitable last Friday, what will Osborne do then?