Cameronomics

Cameron's article today on conservativehome.com got a familiar reaction. Conservatives like winning and there was broad support but nervous questions about the statement that tax cuts will not be prioritised over economic stability. Reform responded to this when it was first announced with a standard, and clearly correct, line that a small state is not more unstable. However, there are two possible processes at work if a party states that they will not prioritise tax cuts over stability:

1) They are left wing and believe that private sector irrationality makes capitalism inherently unstable and in need of state sector stability.

2) They believe that should we come to possess a debt/GDP ratio radically higher than it is today (a severe fiscal crisis) then it would be sensible to prioritise austerity over ideologically driven tax cuts. While there are no policy implications now we need to let the public know that our ideology does not imply poor decision making in a crisis.

While the first paradigm is patently false I believe it is the second that the Conservatives are addressing and this is far less troubling.