The Office for National Statistics has quietly revised the government’s borrowing figures. And the picture is, on the face of it, better than expected. Borrowing in March 2026 came in at £12.6 billion — £1.4 billion lower than a year earlier, and the lowest March figure since 2022. More importantly, borrowing for the full financial … Read more
No. One of the more eye-catching claims doing the rounds this week comes from a Fortune article arguing that the U.S. government is “insolvent”. The evidence? The Treasury’s own financial statements for 2025 show roughly $6 trillion in assets against nearly $48 trillion in liabilities. Add in long-term “unfunded” obligations for Social Security and Medicare … Read more
The latest immigration data slipped out last week with surprisingly little noise. It should have been a big political moment. Net migration has fallen to 204,000 in the year to June—less than a third of the previous year’s level. That’s not a marginal shift. That’s a collapse. It’s now so sharp that it risks tipping … Read more
Another Magic Wand The latest “big idea” in economics is wealth taxes. The claim: Britain’s collapsing public services and messy finances exist because the rich don’t pay enough, and governments are too timid to act. I’m always suspicious of these kinds of fads. The right had its laffer curves, trickle-down theory and efficient markets. The … Read more