except it's not all opinions, but things like ...

How did we get into this mess? Why can?t George Osborne rebalance incomings and outgoings more readily? Where is prudence when you need her? In search of some answers, I trawled through more than 25 years of public spending records. What they show is a relentless rise in state largesse, through good times and bad, the upshot of which is institutionalised indulgence: luxuries have become necessities and value for money exists only as a concept. Between 2000 and 2010, UK government real expenditure (inflation adjusted) increased by 53 per cent from ?451 billion to ?688 billion.

As Dr Tim Morgan, head of research at Tullett Prebon, a City broking house, notes: ?No one has yet explained why the British state must spend ?700 billion today, having managed perfectly well on ?450 billion, at today?s values, 10 years ago.?

Posted By: paulg, Jun 25, 16:34:56