The throne speech promised that the same Conservative financial management that produced the current financial mess would continue and they delivered in Tuesday’s budget.
The strategic problem remains unchanged
The Conservatives will continue to spend billions in one-time cash from oil and minerals. That’s the structural deficit people have been talking about and the Conservatives have done nothing to change that.
Tuesday’s budget gave us the year-end cash figures for 2012 and the forecast for 2013. Here’s the chart from Monday’s post on deficits and surpluses that shows spending and the non-oil revenue. We’ve updated it to include the cash figures for 2012 (actual) and 2013 forecast from the 2013 Estimates. Remember that the Estimates are presented on a cash basis.
This chart shows spending in blue. The orangey purple line represents non oil revenue plus a chunk of oil revenues equal to capital spending for the year. . . . → Read More: The Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Debt is Passed: Budget 2013 #nlpoli