Coffee House interview: Roger Bootle

Roger Bootle is managing director of Capital Economics, and winner of the Wolfson Economics Prize. As the government launches another attempt at boosting UK growth, the economist, who describes himself as a ‘rare right-wing Keynesian’ shares his thoughts on ministers’ economic prowess with Coffee House readers.

Do you think the government will be able to fight the next general election on the issue of the economy?

‘I think it’s too early to tell, but if the economy is completely flatlining and the deficit does not go down – which seems to me to be perfectly possible, there are strong signs things are going to look bad for them. But the Balls strategy does not sound right and if the idea that the way out of this problem is for the government to spend more does not ring true with the British public, I suspect that they might just get away with it.