Growing Pains

Frankly does it matter whether or not Louise Mensch has had a face lift? Does it really matter to us that Michael Jackson's doctor is on trial for involuntary manslaughter? It beggars belief though that the Guardian would think we would be interested in Louise Mensch's face, attractive though it is, or in Sky's continuous coverage of the Michael Jackson's doctor's trial. What matters much more is the economy and whether or not Andrew Tyrie is right in calling for tax cuts. We are told that you can't have tax cuts and reduce borrowing but you could if you cut faster and deeper. The talk of increased borrowing following on as night follows day from tax cuts is a bit of red herring. The whole point of tax cuts is to leave people wealthier and feeling better off. People feeling better off will likely feel like spending more and people spending more must improve our GDP. I think Tyrie is right and that we should cut taxes to encourage growth. Osborne has said he is not for turning but is also reported as saying that he is prepared to be flexible. Seems to me to be a slight contradiction in terms. ConservativeHome have been running a poll  which indicates that 41.6% of those polled believe that the cuts should be faster and deeper. Sadly it seems unlikely that Osborne will take much notice of the poll. Fiddling around with the length of time before which you can take your boss to a tribunal, though welcome, is not going to help growth by much. Nor is a further bout of quantitative easing which will bring with it a real risk of high inflation. Reducing the minimum wage might help but again this is fiddling at the edges and is not on offer anyway.