"Tax cuts are the new black"
Suddenly politicians are falling over themselves to offer us tax cuts -- just at the moment when the cupboard is bare!
No matter, say the Keynsians, we need a mixture of tax cuts and extra public spending to mitigate the worst effects of the recession -- and if that means borrowing even more, so be it.
That's the thinking behind reports that the Chancellor is contemplating a £15bn tax cut package to be unveiled in his expected later this month (though Mr Darling has not yet got round to telling us exactly when) . The Lib Dems are also calling for tax cuts.
The Tories are more chary of borrowing their way out of this recession (see George Osborne's reservations in today's *) but are also worried about being left behind in the scramble for tax cuts. So tomorrow they'll unveil a new tax cutting policy to help ward of the symptoms of unemployment. If it's paid for by spending savings, however, it will not add to overall demand, which is the purpose of Keynsian pump-priming.
As Guido Fawkes says on his blog this morning: "tax cuts are the new black".But exactly what scope is there for tax cuts and would they really be a shot in the arm for an ailing economy? 
I'll be talking to a former Labour Minister who thinks he know's the answers, the independent-minded Frank Field, who has called on the Chancellor to scrap the Pre Budget report in favour of tax cutting Budget this month.
Also today the Prime Minister's visit to the Gulf States last week underlined the growing power and importance of so called `Sovereign Wealth Funds' in investing in western economies that have been hard hit by the credit crisis. Mr Brown called for hundreds of billions to be made available by Gulf States for countries in economic peril but also warned he did not want such states to use it to gain political influence.
It's not just the Gulf States who have multi-billion dollar funds of these kinds: China, Russia and Singapore do too. So, should we be concerned about who buys what when it comes to the sale of British assets?
And Post Offices....which way will the Government jump on the awarding of the new contract to handle benefits and pensions - will it go to the Royal Mail and help save thousands of local post offices currently threatened with closure or will the contract go to a commercial rival? A report by MPs today warns delays in the decision is `destablising' the Post Office network.
All that in today's show -- plus former newscaster Jan Leeming on why she thinks the Government is still not doing enough to help the elderly when it comes to the cold weather. If you're one of those sitting at home feeling the chill, are you getting enough help?
Don't forget we'd like your comments on that story and any other political stories that are making the news...email us at daily.politics@bbc.co.uk. We start at Noon today on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ2.
*Here's the money quote from Osborne's FT article:
"Today, we must let the automatic stabilisers function. But as Lord Burns, former permanent secretary at the Treasury, warned last week, borrowing beyond that without being clear how the bills would be paid would be 'very dangerous at this point'. 'We begin from a position of a structural deficit. Adding to that structural deficit can only increase the problems subsequently,' he said. I agree. Spending our way out of recession will not work. Targeted tax cuts would help but they must be properly funded. Any tax cuts must not permanently increase the structural deficit and must be combined with a strategy to reduce it over time. If they are not, Britain's international credibility will be further imperilled, future generations will be burdened with even more debt and a recovery would be threatened by the prospect of large tax rises. We would be sowing the seeds of the next crisis."
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