Opinion: The Coalition are winning the economic argument
It’s a dark winter night in Westminster but the building from which a group of men emerge is still wreathed in light. The men clamber into a sleek car, which streaks away through the emptying streets....
View ArticleLibLink: David Laws MP writes about the Lib Dem ambition for fairer tax
David Laws has argued at the Guardian’s Comment is Free site that the Coalition should accelerate Liberal Democrat tax cutting plans. The government’s previous plan was for the allowance to rise in...
View ArticleNick Clegg says no to Tory plans for more welfare cuts
Newspapers have been reporting for months that the Liberal Democrats were not prepared to sign up to Tory plans for £10 billion of welfare cuts in a spending review that would draw up plans for...
View ArticleOpinion: The Conflicts of Economic Policy
Nick Clegg’s conference speech committed Lib Dems to manage debt out of the economy and implement a fair tax regime. But the objectives of economic policy often conflict with each other. Let’s take it...
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Eliminating the structural deficit is aiming for the wrong target
There is an appealing simplicity behind the idea of having a zero structural deficit. It is the policy the government is committed to, with its plans to eliminate the structural deficit. And it’s also...
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5 points on Clegg’s admission that Coalition was wrong to cut capital spending
Nick Clegg has sparked a flurry of excitement with his admission in an interview for The House magazine that the Coalition cut capital spending ‘too far, too fast’ to coin a phrase. Here’s what he said...
View ArticleAs economy begins to recover, Lib Dem members swing in favour of Coalition’s...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 600 party members...
View ArticleLib Dems should aim for a budget surplus not because the Tories want to, but...
All parties have a mixture of deficit hawks and doves – those who believe in balanced budgets and those who aren’t too bothered. The Lib Dems are no exception, but I think we are different in the...
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Opinion: Son of Plan A – why are we supporting?
Economic policy is always a mixture of fiscal, monetary and political policy. “Nick, George has come up with another of his jolly good wheezes. You remember that Plan A malarkey ..?” Well, dear reader,...
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Uncomfortable truths from the IFS on public spending and tax cuts but...
Last week, the highly-respected Institute for Fiscal Studies produced its annual “Green Budget”: its attempt to inject some realism into the national debate on the economy ahead of the chancellor’s...
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Could it really not be any clearer than this?
Defending the clarity of his party’s position on the deficit after forgetting to mention it in his speech, Ed Miliband said Ed Balls talked this week about our approach on the deficit. I have talked...
View ArticleNick Clegg on the “utter nonsense” of Tory spending plans
In another strong demonstration of the differences between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, Nick Clegg went on the Today programme yesterday to talk about deficit reduction and fiscal...
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Opinion: Fiscal consolidation and the Liberal Democrats
Over the past few days, questions have emerged about the Liberal Democrats’ proposals for fiscal consolidation. Liberal Reform felt it would therefore be helpful to clarify what the challenges are, to...
View ArticleOpinion: Deficit reduction: between a rock and a hard place
View image | gettyimages.com In recent discussions of deficit reduction my ear was caught by a survey or economists, organised by the Centre for Macroeconomics and the a press release from the...
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When is the right time to reduce the deficit?
Liberal Democrats and Social Democrats have a very wide range of opinions, including economics. However, despite our differences, it’s possible to discuss them in a good-natured, honest way, without...
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Was Vince Cable proved right on austerity?
When the histories of the coalition government come to be written, those chapters focussing on the role of Vince Cable will be some of the most fascinating. Vince’s fierce intelligence combined with a...
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