Election debate - what wasn't said!

The final election debate was supposed to focus upon the economy, but frankly the lack of detail from all three candidates was astonishing.  We learnt very little new about their policies and I'm not sure anyone really believes that cuts won't be larger than we are being told, whoever gets into government.

This was a great opportunity to debate the merits of a Brown type Keynesian policy of continuing government spending verses the Conservative classical economics position of cutting the deficit, shrinking government and balancing the books.  Both positions have merit and should have been examined.  They were hinted at but no great detail was given.

It is easy to understand why politicians avoid announcing these tough and technical positions to the public.  George Osbourne went down the path of announcing austerity and the polls moved sharply against him.  It seems perhaps we are happier to be misled than to hear the truth.

Make no mistake, whoever gets elected next Thursday, spending will be cut sharply and taxes will rise.  Even with the economy coming out of recession, things may to many feel a lot worse.