If the government follows through on this spending review, public spending in 2014-15 will be spending 4% less, in real terms than it is today, but roughly the same amount, as a share of the economy as it was spending in 2005-6.
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Labour is right to stress that economic growth will be crucial to how tough these spending cuts feel - and, indeed, whether cuts of this magnitude are even necessary.
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But, the coalition is right that this is not about turning Britain into Hong Kong. It is about reversing a small-ish part of the relentless upward march in government spending since the war. The fact that it should take such a gargantuan effort to achieve even this merely demonstrates quite how relentless that upward march can be, in a rich but now ageing modern economy.
from The BBC
