{"id":10297,"date":"2011-06-05T11:44:28","date_gmt":"2011-06-05T10:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=10297"},"modified":"2011-06-05T16:39:22","modified_gmt":"2011-06-05T15:39:22","slug":"coalitions-spending-plans-simply-dont-add-up-as-some-of-us-have-said-for-a-long-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2011\/06\/05\/coalitions-spending-plans-simply-dont-add-up-as-some-of-us-have-said-for-a-long-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition’s spending plans simply don’t add up – as some of us have said for a long time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The talk in the Observer<\/a> and Sunday Times today is of the need for a Plan B for the UK's economy.<\/p>\n

It is now abundantly clear that Osborne's economics aren't working: we're going to have the slowest ever recorded recovery from a recession, and that's because Osborne deliberately abandoned Labour's plans which were working, even if not perfect themselves.<\/p>\n

Some of us have, of course, been saying this for sometime: the Green New Deal group<\/a> of which I am a member (and a principal author) have been saying that an alternative strategy has been needed since July 2008 - before Lehman crashed.<\/p>\n

And, of course I've been arguing that the tax gap needs to be closed for a long time now. Indeed, my work for the TUC put this issue <\/a>onto the UK economic agenda.<\/p>\n

As a result I was delighted with the following letter in the Observer today<\/a>, which I did not draft but of which I was a signatory:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Recent economic figures have shown that the government urgently needs to adopt a Plan B for the economy. As economists and academics, we know the breakneck deficit-reduction plan, based largely on spending cuts, is self-defeating even on its own terms. It will probably not manage to close the deficit in the planned time frame and the government's strategy is likely to result in a lot more pain and a lot less gain.<\/p>\n

We believe a more effective strategy for sustainable growth would be achieved:<\/p>\n

- through a green new deal and a focus on targeted industrial policy.<\/p>\n

- by clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion, as well as by raising taxes on those best able to pay<\/p>\n

- through real financial reform, job creation, \"unsqueezing\" the incomes of the majority, the empowerment of workers and a better work-life balance.<\/p>\n

These are the foundation of a real alternative and it is time the government adopted it.<\/p>\n

Prof Richard Grayson<\/strong>, Goldsmiths, University of London; lan O'Shea<\/strong>, emeritus prof of cultural studies, UEL;\u00a0Henning Meyer<\/strong>, senior visiting fellow, LSE Global Governance;\u00a0Howard Reed<\/strong>, director, Landman Economics;\u00a0Prof Geoffrey M Hodgson<\/strong>, University of Hertfordshire Business School\u00a0and 47 others<\/strong> (see observer.co.uk\/letters)<\/p>\n

Professor Jonathan Rutherford Middlesex University<\/p>\n

Professor Natalie Fenton, Goldsmiths, University of London<\/p>\n

Professor Stefano Harney, Queen Mary, University of London<\/p>\n

Andrew Watt, Senior Researcher, European Trade Union Institute<\/p>\n

Professor Mariana Mazzucato, (Chair in the Economics of Innovation),\u00a0Open University<\/p>\n

Professor Gregor Gall, University of Hertfordshire<\/p>\n

Prof George Irvin, Univ of London, SOAS<\/p>\n

Prof Peter Case, Bristol Business School<\/p>\n

Michael Burke, Economic Consultant<\/p>\n

Professor Marcus Miller, University of Warwick<\/p>\n

Professor Susan Himmelweit, Open University<\/p>\n

James Meadway, Senior economist, new economics foundation<\/p>\n

Professor Dennis Leech, University of Warwick<\/p>\n

Jonathan Glennie, Research Fellow, Overseas Development Institute<\/p>\n

Stewart Lansley, Research Fellow, Bristol University<\/p>\n

Alan Finlayson, Reader, Dept. of Political and Cultural Studies,\u00a0Swansea University<\/p>\n

Robin Murray, Senior Visiting Fellow, Global Governance, LSE<\/p>\n

Richard Murphy, Director, Tax Research LLP<\/p>\n

Prof. Giuseppe Fontana, Leeds University Business School<\/p>\n

Pat Devine, University of Manchester<\/p>\n

Prof Malcolm Sawyer, University of Leeds<\/p>\n

Dr Paul Segal, University of Sussex<\/p>\n

Professor Stephen Haseler, Director, Global Policy Institute<\/p>\n

Andrew Simms, nef fellow and Green New Deal Group Member<\/p>\n

Ruth Potts, Campaign Manager, the Great Transition<\/p>\n

Valerie Bryson, Emerita Professor of Politics, University of Huddersfield<\/p>\n

Mark Fisher, University of London<\/p>\n

Dr Jonathan Perraton, University of Sheffield<\/p>\n

Nick Isles, Managing Director of Corporate Agenda<\/p>\n

David Purdy, Social economist now retired, formerly Head of the\u00a0Department of Applied Social Science, University of Manchester<\/p>\n

Dr. Douglas Chalmers, Glasgow Caledonian University<\/p>\n

Sheila Dow, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Stirling<\/p>\n

Barbara MacLennan, retired academic economist: Universities of York\u00a0and Manchester<\/p>\n

David Donald, Glasgow Caledonian University<\/p>\n

Ismail Erturk, Senior Lecturer in Banking, University of Manchester<\/p>\n

Ian Gough, Emeritus Professor, University of Bath<\/p>\n

Colin Crouch, University of Warwick<\/p>\n

Professor David Marquand, Oxford University<\/p>\n

Stuart White, Jesus College, Oxford University<\/p>\n

Professor Diane Elson, University of Essex, Chair UK Women's Budget Group<\/p>\n

Professor Andy Danford, Bristol Business School<\/p>\n

Professor Simon Lilley, Head of University of Leicester School of Management<\/p>\n

Professor Stephen Linstead, University of York<\/p>\n

Professor Adrian Sinfield, University of Edinburgh<\/p>\n

Professor Sir Tony Atkinson, Nuffield College, Oxford<\/p>\n

Professor Matthew Watson, University of Warwick<\/p>\n

Professor David Bailey, Coventry University Business School<\/p>\n

Dr Damian O'Doherty, University of Manchester<\/p>\n

Professor Derek Braddon, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University\u00a0of the West of England, Bristol<\/p>\n

Dr. Olivier Ratle, University of the West of England, Bristol<\/p>\n

Professor Alison Pullen, Swansea University<\/p>\n

Professor David Knights, Bristol Business School<\/p>\n

Dr Gregory Schwartz, University of Bath<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The time for change has arrived: I'm delighted to have helped draft part of the alternative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The talk in the Observer and Sunday Times today is of the need for a Plan B for the UK’s economy. It is now abundantly
 Read the full article…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}