This? A loaded image? Surely not!

I have some questions for the Liberal-Conservative government. With the announcement that the planned tax break for videogame developers has been cancelled, I can sort of justify posting them here. Sort of. Anyway, here we go…

The government is slashing budgets, shrinking the state in the hope that private services take up the slack. Where is the evidence that this will work, given that businesses are generally looking to save, rather than expand. Is this anything more than an ideological stab in the dark?
The government is hoping that in cutting now, the deficit will be reduced faster than with slower cuts and greater economic growth. Where is the evidence for this?
David Cameron and George Osborne continue to describe state economics in terms of household budgets. This is wrong, as Government spending can spur on economic growth. So are Cameron et al economically naive, or politically disingenuous?
Where do the Eurozone countries expect to export their goods to when they are all slashing deficits, cutting growth?
In what way is the Canadian example of deficit reduction and austerity measures relevant, when it took place with a booming neighbouring economy in the shape of the United States?
How can the public finances be “far worse than we thought” when the OBR report showed deficit projections to be only slightly higher and borrowing predictions to be significantly lower than Alistair Darling expected? What justification, therefore, do the Liberal Democrats have for raising VAT – an extremely regressive move* – after they campaigned against this “Tory Bombshell”?

That’s it. I’m no economist, so I’m open to explanations, as long as they are seriously argued and properly evidenced. I’ve just yet to see them. Has anyone got any?

Feel free to answer.

*The bottom 10% pay one in seven pounds of their income in VAT; the top 10% pay one in 25.

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