Budget day, UK. Have to say that I prefer Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, to most of the rest of the cabinet, but suspect my reasons are more stylistic than political. He's low key, low ego, low drama. Having said which, I frequently disagree. His cancellation of the stamp duty for first time buyers of houses worth under £300,000 will, I suspect, serve mainly to raise the price of houses. There will be beneficiaries, of course, but not necessarily the poor. Not even a particularly partisan position on my part. Similar measures were taken when Alistair Darling was (Labour) chancellor with little effect in terms of making housing more affordable, and of course a substantial loss to the tax payer.
The British are almost unable to mention first time buyers without referring to "being able to get on the property ladder". Which seems to be a part of the Anglo (Canadian, American, Australian, English - but not Scottish) view of housing as capital asset more than home. Rental is often more cost effective and is much more common in continental Europe, and also in Scotland.
Sadly, the government's economic growth and debt projections are depressing. Hammond tries arguing that the problems are global, but unfortunately for him the picture is rosier in the rest of the G8 and in the EU.