Budget control

Chancellor George Osborne's decision to have an Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR), to provide independent forecasts on the health of the economy (your report, 18 May), may present some difficulties.

It is claimed that Mr Osborne will give up his power over certain economic forecasts.

Imagine that the OBR put forward a range of facts about projected growth, tax revenue and commitments, debt and borrowing – all interlinked within the formula that determines future government policy.

By definition, these "facts" would be founded upon some notion of the current situation as the starting point, and they would be presented dispassionately, without the expression of opinion about any political aspects the government would be obliged to address.

But, were the Chancellor to be concerned about a low projection of the percentage increase in growth, it would be within his powers to manipulate the taxation regime in order, say, to double the growth rate.

So, at a stroke, he could be instrumental in blowing apart the OBR's presentation. The fact is that it is a chicken-and-egg situation; nothing is static. Curiously, one report states that the Treasury will still produce the bulk of economic forecasting!

It is to be hoped that this seemingly cosmetic exercise will not replicate problems similar to those encountered when Gordon Brown's first act, in 1997, transferred powers to the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England.

The money in the economy ran out, the banks were in deep trouble, and the rest is history.

DOUGLAS R MAYER

Thomson Crescent

Currie

Everyone knows there is a major financial problem and some painful decisions will have to be taken. Why do commentators talk of the coalition sharing the blame? Shouldn't it be sharing the credit? One does not blame the dentist for pulling a rotten tooth or the surgeon for amputating a gangrenous leg.

I hope the politicians have the courage to move from a deficit to a surplus budget and we don't have to pay such a high percentage of our GDP in interest.

No-one will enjoy a fall in their income and standard of living but if it is shared across the population in relation to their ability to cope, surely it will just have to be accepted.

Personally, I believe that those who use financial wizardry to move their assets offshore to avoid helping the country in its time of need are just as much traitors as those who swapped sides in wartime.

JAMES GOLDIE

Bonaly Crescent

Edinburgh