{"id":95296,"date":"2026-08-29T07:19:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T06:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=95296"},"modified":"2026-08-29T07:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T06:19:28","slug":"when-might-we-have-a-chancellor-with-any-degree-of-macroeconomic-competence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2026\/08\/29\/when-might-we-have-a-chancellor-with-any-degree-of-macroeconomic-competence\/","title":{"rendered":"When might we have a Chancellor with any degree of macroeconomic competence?"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Healey holds the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer at this moment, to everyone's surprise, including, I suspect, his own. He was interviewed by Sam Coates of Sky Television yesterday. The Guardian reported these comments<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Healey said fiscal discipline was the \u201cfirst priority\u201d for any chancellor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the bedrock for economic stability,\u201d he said. \u201cWe simply can\u2019t deal with the problems we face as a country by maxing out the country\u2019s credit card.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I despair. We have another Chancellor who thinks that the country is like a household.<\/p>\n

That is bad enough, but what is worse is the reference to \"the country\u2019s credit card.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, that is because no such thing exists.<\/p>\n

Second, because he does not apparently realise that if it did have a credit card, he controls the bank that issued it and can set the credit limit wherever he likes.<\/p>\n

It is quite absurd that we can still have Chancellors who can, without apparent embarrassment, display economic ignorance of this order.<\/p>\n

When might we have a Chancellor with any degree of macroeconomic competence?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Healey holds the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer at this moment, to everyone’s surprise, including, I suspect, his own. He was interviewed by
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