Still in my old fashioned print form, so no link: March 17 edition blah blah blah "Stashing the Cash"
Britain's financial crisis is pretty similar to ours (though there's never got quite to the "crisis" level). However, George Osbourne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, will be making his third budget statement on March 21st and things are looking up since last quarter (in which Britain's economy shrank). One of the ratings agencies, Fitch, reaffirmed Britain's AAA status (this is good, almost necessary for a country), but threatened a downgrade if public borrowing increases in the next two years. So naturally, Osbourne is cutting back. But there is the same delicate position as in America (although nothing is done delicately here), if companies and households save more, and the government spends less, there will be no more recovery. Interestingly enough, companies have been hoarding, due to low trust in banks. So, Osbourne is writing the tax rates to get the desired results: he lowered the main corporate tax rate, while keeping the tax relief on capital spending lower. He's hoping for companies to invest in Britain, increasing the competitiveness of the pound.
the economist has the weirdest article titles. you can't make these things up.
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