U-turns are the least of Osborne’s woes

George Osborne, we were told, would be offering a “Robin Hood” budget. It is a bold piece of branding, ranking alongside Jeremy Clarkson’s heartfelt environmentalism, writes Tim Harford

George Osborne makes a curious remark here:The overriding objective of fiscal policy must be to provide the credible deficit reduction plan that allows the Bank of England to keep mortgage rates as low as possible for as long as possible. That will do more to sustain a recovery than anything else.This raises 4 questions:

The chancellor could start by scrapping national insurance entirely and raising the lost revenue through income tax, writes Tim Harford

A reform programme all about pluralism and local adaptation is being pushed through like a Soviet five-year plan, writes Tim Harford

It is time to apply a little science to public policy. True randomised trials could validate – or reject – new approaches to education, crime and benefits, writes Tim Harford

Back in November, George Osborne said:We are in danger, if the Government is not careful, of having a proper sterling collapse, a run on the pound….The more you borrow as a government the more you have to sell that debt and the less attractive your currency seems.

This week financial reports on the UK economy will be released and economists expect that Chancellor George Osborne’s austerity measures might face additional challenges. China announced that it will stop issuing new licenses to iron ore importers unless they participate in a domestic trading platform. Revenue of Google’s app store in growing in faster pace than Apple’s store. Philips released its financial data for the first quarter of 2013, showing a 38% increase in LED sales, compared to 2012.