I’ve just finished reading Malcolm Sawyer’s take on budgets surpluses (Malcolm Sawyer – Budget 2015 The budget surplus – see image for his basic objections) which leads be to write the following post, questioning whether budget surpluses are as positive as Osborne would have the public believe.

A government’s fiscal situation and that of an individual, or even a firm, are completely different. When a government decides to borrow then it must be the case that the private sector is saving, and when the government decides to save then it must be the case that the private sector is borrowing. [...]