Obesity in government

Devotees of CentreRight will know that I have little faith in national obesity strategies - but I'm all for slimmer government. Today's report from the Centre for Policy Studies  (usefully summed up by BBC news online) provides evidence from 20 countries to dispel a few of the widely-accepted myths about the impact of tax cuts. In particular, the myth that cutting taxes leads to cuts in public services and/or cuts in defence budgets, or law and order. It also dispels the myth that tax-cutting governments preside over countries with big income disparities. And the report shows that governments which cut or hold down income and corporate tax rates enjoy stronger growth, create more jobs, and keep down government debt. In other words, slimmer governments are much better able to react nimbly to a global downturn - unlike our own, bloated and lumbering state.