Follyville Economics

Those of us who work for local authorities are in a no-win situation as far as economics are concerned. The government has, over a long period of time, made strenuous suggestions to local government that they should find whatever means they practically can to save taxpayers money. The officers at Follyville Borough Council have done just that and, for the year just gone, managed to save £850,000 on the planned budget. I don't know how that compares to other councils, but I would have said it was worthy of a pat on the back. ....... but no. Quite the contrary! One of Follyville's own councillors is demanding to know why the council underspent by such a large sum. [He must follow this strange economic logic hypothesised in my last post.] His reasoning must be "bugger the government's requests - if it's in the budget we'll jolly well spend it whether we need to or not." Surely he must realise that a large underspend is always preferable to a large overspend ............ or maybe not!