This time next year…

The Budget is usually a little like Christmas - there is a long wait, you get a few clues about what is going to happen, and then when the day finally arrives it is a bit of a let-down.

George Osborne’s second Budget managed to avoid this comparison despite delivering the policies that had been trailed, by providing a few surprises and not getting too caught up in overly optimistic economic forecasts. It was the economist JK Galbraith who said: “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” Osborne, despite the accusation of ‘Del-Boy’ economics thrown at him by Ed Miliband, concentrated on more realistic growth forecasts, accepting it will only be 1.7% this year, picking up to 2.5% in the Olympics year, while perking up further to ...