Adam Lent

It seems George Osborne was a bit hasty to claim that: “we now have a consensus of economic opinion aligned with the Conservatives saying that dealing with the deficit is essential to create jobs and sustain the recovery”.  His comment followed the widely publicised publication of a letter from twenty economists in The Sunday Times.  The Financial Times has two letters today signed by over sixty economists attacking the Sunday Times letter.  The letters urge politicians to put the restoration of growth before the cutting of the deficit.  Whatever one’s view on the deficit, it is clearly wrong in the light of this to claim that there is anything like a consensus amongst economists backing the idea of early action on the deficit.