The Guardian view on George Osborne’s fiscal surplus law: the Micawber delusion | Editorial

Economic sunshine can no more be guaranteed by statute than sunshine proper. The proposed straitjacket to prevent future governments from borrowing is neither necessary nor credible

Viewed from Mars, or indeed from global financial markets, the biggest issue with the UK economy right now is not the government deficit. The tendency for red bottom lines in the balance of payments, uncertainty about relations with Europe, and - above all - the stubborn refusal of productivity to advance as it used to are all more worrying than a national debt that is unexceptional by international or historical standards.

George Osborne's fixation on the public finances was too obsessive in 2010, but at least he then had one serious point - those who lend to the government were watching closely to see whether a new administration would get a grip on borrowing. That is no longer true, and yet he is so keen that the deficit should remain the alpha and the omega of the economic debate that at the Mansion House he will propose a Mr Micawber law to require all future governments to balance income and expenditure, in line with the dictum of the Dickens character. Public borrowing will be banished for good - or that's the claim.

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