The day after the ã20bn gamble
The situation has now calmed down here in Westminster after Gordon Brown's bombshell plan yesterday to get Britain out of a deep recession.
The sums involved are staggering with national debt set to rise to ã1 trillion within a few years, along with massive tax hikes to pay for the Prime Minister's ã20bn package to boost the economy.
But there are questions about whether it will work. A senior North East business chief has branded the VAT cut to 15% as a "drop in the bucket" with increases in national insurance contributions acting a brake on jobs.
North East Minister Nick Brown insists it will help the North East economy and we must hope that he is right.
The other question as well is whether the super-rich who face massive rises in tax will simply move to a cheaper location.
The Chancellor announced a new 45% income tax rate from 2011 for those earning more than ã150,000, and a phasing out of personal allowances for those on more than ã100,000 - bringing in ã3bn of cash.
But might the Treasury be starved of that cash?
And the other issue is whether spending now means less cash will be available in future - not least with revenue from taxes set to fall significantly as the economy contracts.
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