Same old, same old, in terms of austerity, with more cuts still to come for years ahead. Not unrelated to that was the downgrade in the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast of productivity growth and consequently economic growth. The GDP growth forecast for 2017 is now a derisory 1.5%; 1.4% in 2018; 1.3% in both 2019 and 2020; 1.5% in 2021 and 1.6% in 2022. No other chancellor has ever had to report such a dreadful growth forecast for so long. First, the OBR has assumed that the Brexit negotiations go smoothly, and there is every indication that this is unduly optimistic.

Source: The Guardian November 29, 2017 00:20 UTC