IMO, increased spending and social/business/job support was broadly the sensible thing to do in this current situation.
However, at NO stage have the governments said, when things are stable and in more normal times again, that tax INCREASES must be introduced to rebalance the books.
They should have been explicit that all this support is a LOAN. A CASH ADVANCE for the economy and society to prevent carnage. And a structure of tax increases laid out as each recovery point is reached. At the same time as announcing the support. Tax cuts should have been sold as temporary - a year or 2.
But politics dont ever allow for tax to be increased to pay for the benefits of raining cash.
Easier to pretend the bigger debt will all just go away. In theory by growth it will, unless the next shock comes before that growth occurs GFC then Covid then “next shock” when?
The can getting kicked down the road is the size of a keg now.
