More austerity? The Treasury must act against the grain of its own history in responding to the COVID-19 crisis

Will austerity be repeated in the light of the ongoing pandemic? Sam Warner, Diane Coyle, Dave Richards and Martin Smith write that, while the evidence points to Rishi Sunak favouring belt tightening over exposing the public finances to further risk, this crisis underlines the need for fresh thinking within the Treasury, as well as for No.11 to engage more effectively beyond Whitehall.