Osbornomics is finally dead: just ask Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson | Larry Elliott

The men vying to be prime minister have promised the kind of spending for which they once lambasted Labour

The nation's credit card has been maxed out. The government failed to fix the roof while the sun was shining. When times are tough a country has to tighten its belt and live within its means. Remember all that? Of course you do. Those were some of George Osborne's favourite soundbites in 2010 when he was pinning the blame for the global financial crisis on Labour's profligacy. And mighty effective they were.

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The race to the bottom on tax is in some sense welcome - it validates the use of tax and spending as an economic tool

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