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> that makes debt repayment the second largest chunk of government expenditure after the NHS. Are you sure about this? If you scroll down to the pie chart on
by foldr 1y ago
> that makes debt repayment the second largest chunk of government expenditure after the NHS.
Are you sure about this? If you scroll down to the pie chart on the following page, health is not the largest chunk of expenditure (that’s social security) and interest on debt is fifth.
https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-key-questions/what-does-government-spend-money https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-key-questions/what-does-gov...
- Nursie 1y agoI might very well be wrong! The orb thinks 8.4% this year, totalling 111 billion. But I can also find articles that seem to say the government spent 16.4 billion just in June - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g2rky498wo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g2rky498wo Either way, listening the Today program a few times a week from overseas has possibly warped my view! Perhaps the constraint is more to do with currency fluctuations and gilt yield rises when it looks like they’re wanting to borrow more. (Edit - the OBR! Not “The Orb”, though frankly if the orb would like to hold forth on the economy I’d probably listen to them over most commentators…)
- foldr 1y agoFrom the article: > The amount of interest the government pays on national debt also varies from month to month So your figure for June is not obviously inconsistent with a total of 111 billion per year.
- Nursie 1y agoTrue, and presumably the OBR are better at forecasting than whatever I pull out of my ass.