Though there are signs that tax cuts are coming back into public favour, two polls published this morning suggest that this is more due to the politics of massive surpluses, which allow tax cuts and more spending, than to a shift back to preferring tax cuts over more public services.

The more interesting poll, for my purposes, was a Galaxy poll published in the News Ltd tabloids. It asked:

On balance, which one of the following would you prefer the Government to do with $34 billion?

And the answers were:

Give tax cuts 12%
Spend it on schools and hospitals 71%
Give more money to states 3%
Invest in some major infrastructure projects 13%
Uncommitted 1%

Continue reading “What does the public want done with the surplus?” →