Skip to main content

Do voters have a real fiscal choice this time?

The release of party manifestos this week highlighted that, unlike in recent elections, the two main parties offer voters a real fiscal choice this time. Labour would borrow significantly more than the Conservatives over the next five years to invest in infrastructure, compared to the “phoney debate” over borrowing differences of around £6bn per annum in 2010. And this would result in fiscal policy exerting less of a drag on GDP growth over the coming years. Admittedly, the gap in the plans could be narrowed due the Conservatives’ unfunded commitments to raise the personal allowance and higher-rate income tax threshold and bring net migration down below 100,000. However, if this was the case, then the Conservatives would need to implement further austerity beyond 2021-22 to bring borrowing down and meet to meet their fiscal goal.

Become a client to read more

This is premium content that requires an active Capital Economics subscription to view.

Already have an account?

You may already have access to this premium content as part of a paid subscription.

Sign in to read the content in full or get details of how you can access it

Register for free

Sign up for a free account to gain:

  • Unlock additional content
  • Register for Capital Economics events
  • Receive email updates and economist-curated newsletters
  • Request a free trial of our services


Get access