The austerity Government that isn’t and the recession that wasn’t

Things are not looking too good for the West Island either. (Image: File)

Tue, 24 Dec 2024

Oof! The September quarter national accounts and the Government’s half-year update made for some pretty rugged reading last week.There’s red ink aplenty in the Crown accounts, with deficits as far as the eye can see and a persistent case of borrow-and-spend coming out of the Beehive. An operating surplus isn’t on the cards for a few more years, and the looming step-up in unemployment isn’t going to help matters, given our favoured form of taxation is at the income source.Much was made of the new operating balance me...

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