HAVE THE TORY POLITIcians in charge of our public finances since 2010 been financial magicians? As will soon be explained, in their years in office the state has borrowed more — relative to national output — than in any previous period of similar length in British peacetime history. Yet somehow the debt position remains respectable by international standards. How have they accomplished this feat?
Consider the following numbers, which are sourced from the International Monetary Fund’s magnificent database and show “general government net lending/borrowing (i.e., the budget deficit) as
