The government’s position on public sector pay – at least if anonymous briefings to the broadcaster Robert Peston and others are to be taken at face value – shows evidence either of poor economics or a risky political calculation, as ministers confront industrial disputes with railway workers, nurses and teachers.
One part of the poor economics is a claim that the government has “run out of money”. The other is that if it gave in, higher pay would fuel inflation, and that would make us all poorer. Little of this makes much sense.
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