The chancellor seems to be doing a vanishing act
Where is George Osborne? The economy is losing altitude and yet the pilot has vanished. His minders say he remains in the cockpit and is in full control. Passengers, already upset by the bumpy ride, are not so sure. Why no appearances on Question Time, Newsnight or Channel 4 news? What is he scared of?
Maybe he will turn out to be the lucky chancellor. Certainly the ONS did him a favour with its change to the accounting rules governing Labour's mobile phone 3G licence sale in 2000.
A decision to add �1bn to the accounts over 21 years has been overturned in favour of booking the whole �21bn bonanza in the first year. That means Osborne's deficit reduction plan (with a 2015 finishing date) will benefit from �6bn that was due to be entered in the accounts in the six years before 2021.
Add an estimated �20bn gain on the purchase of government bonds since the banking crash, which is yet to be included in the accounts, and you have a cut in the deficit worth not much less than the entire tax credit bill for last year (�23bn). Who needs a growing economy when you have paper profits from asset sales?
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/31/viewpoint-george-osborne
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