We want to write it, you want to read it, but is pre-Budget speculation actually helpful? We put two experts head to head in this week’s Debate

YES: Pre-Budget speculation provides an opportunity to avoid damaging mistakes

It sometimes feels like Budget speculation is a bit like Nazi-cum-American rocket scientist Wernher von Braun’s famous catchphrase: “Once the rocket goes up, I don’t care where it comes down. That’s not my department.”

Indeed, many of the rockets flying out of Treasury’s ornate Whitehall home in recent weeks have failed to reach their intended targets. In fact, they’ve hardly managed to lift off the ground, instead spectacularly blowing up in the government’s face.

But in a sense, that’s the entire point – pre-Budget rocket firing is a politico-economic testing exercise. It’s difficult to know precisely how ideas will land until they are put out for public debate. How much will media commentators complain? What will be the bond market reaction? Which vested interests are going to screech the loudest?

The pre-Budget speculation provides an........

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