What crisis? A tough week for Trussonomics

What’s the sign of a successful Budget? Chris Philp, the new chief secretary to the Treasury, gave his answer moments after Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s statement last Friday: a strong pound.

‘Great to see sterling strengthening on the back of the new UK growth plan,’ he tweeted out. A (temporary) rising pound made sense to Truss supporters, who argued that markets would support their transition to a lower-tax, higher-growth economy. This was, they thought, their vindicating moment.

The moment didn’t last. Within minutes, the pound had entered a steep descent and UK borrowing costs surged. But Kwarteng is not a politician who panics. Instead of staying in the office and trying to understand what had happened, he went to celebrate with Treasury staffers in the local pub, a traditional way to mark the freeze in alcohol duty. Let’s see where markets are in four weeks’ time, he told friends: half a day’s worth of data is a blip, not a trend.