This article is featured on the Ecologist website
The March 2007 budget was one of those that leave us feeling, have we missed something. The whole country is worrying about climate change, the chattering classes are talking about nothing else- and the serious and potentially devastating threat to our whole economy and way of life, in particular people are for the first time talking about the role of aviation in this change to our economy. And in this budget there is scarcely a mention!
In fact as far as a green budget goes The Chancellor has only given a small slap on the wrist to the most destructive and unnecessary domestic vehicles, which flyer deliberately in the face of a communal response to climate change and has actually lowered other taxes on some cars. He has encouraged richer owners of expensive symbolic cars such as the Prius - ( useful but elite) well out of the reach of most people anyway, and not encouraged ownership and fashion in much smaller cars which would have really helped and made a difference.
He has also spectacularly avoided beginning to do something about aviation which for the very first time the public and the press would have heartily accepted and warmed to, and frankly expected leadership from him. Instead this is a budget which appears purely self and career focused, a bid from the Chancellor for No. 10, thus fiddling whilst the world literally burns around him, but he makes it clear - having THAT JOB is the most important thing, more important even than ensuring his child's future and leaving the potential for a decent economy -should his child want to follow in his own footsteps.
People are also focused on the fact that our children are some of the most unhappy and dysfunctional in the industrialised world- according to a UN report, and this is absolutely nothing to be proud of and leaves another generation growing up with the additional burden of having to work longer and harder to support increasing numbers of older people. He has in fact penalised the young generation of people just starting out at work, just at a time when we really need them to be inspired. Perhaps one of the saddest things is that where we are starting to realise that planning for a strong local community means local facilities and local supply and local shops, he has actually provided a budget for big business, lowering corporation tax for larger players, and putting it up for smaller local business. Surely the last thing we need if we are to cut down on the need for transport without harming our economy or our way of life more than is needed.
As with many things- at first this looks like tax cuts in the basic rate- but in fact National Insurance has gone up without hypothecation for health benefits which is much more what the country want. They want services that work and a sense of community.
The incentive to free trade and big business, is the basis of this budget, to encourage the city to allow the Chancellor to move in to his dream home.
In fact the idea of a green dream home is also not a realistic proposition, given that only a tiny proportion of homes, and only those built by big firms would qualify.
The budget is a missed opportunity- which given the current knowledge about our situation is actually a tragedy and a travesty and really an intelligent man like Gordon Brown has a duty to provide a visionary and responsible and effective and positive budget.
The economics of so called free trade are in many senses largely responsible for the mess we find ourselves in, and so it falls to those of us active in economics to take the lead in getting us out of it.
Gordon Brown knows its his duty to do this, based on what he has said before but he fails like his party to understand how this all works and how he can help us get out of it.
Green does not mean business as usual, green means preventing the social and environmental consequences of current economics practice but sound sensible economics practice and vision.
