Tag: Illusion

So how loans are recorded and accounted for matter and both the OBR and ONS agree. So what are these “fiscal illusions” and why do they matter? As Chote observes, this has “practical difficulties” such as making tricky 30-year forecasts and adding up to £15 billion a year in “spending” today. None of this might matter quite so much if current higher education policy were widely supported. Poor value for money, questionable outcomes, high debt and v-c pay all continue to dominate headlines alongside questions about declining part-time numbers and neglected technical education. But these changes will mean that maintaining the current system could be just as expensive if the government has to account for more spending upfront. First is that even if the government decided to keep spending the money – and abandon the political optics of sound fiscal policy – there is no guarantee that they would want to spend it in exactly the same way. But this would also mean less tuition fee income for universities and only a small possibility of increased grant in a 2019 Spending Review already dominated by the NHS. So too might be increasing student loan income if via reduced thresholds and longer repayment terms. Reducing fees and debt – as well as increasing loan repayments and better complying with any revised accounting standards – might be seen as a big win in the circumstances.