Should tax rates be hiked to pay for the monumental spending on the pandemic?  

Or would an increased tax burden choke an already beleaguered private sector – and stifle any meaningful economic recovery?

In the latest Definite Article from the IEA, Director General Mark Littlewood maps out the new divide between fiscal hawks and tax doves.

Whilst Treasury hawks look to tax rises to mitigate the colossal cost of coping with coronavirus, the doves argue for a go-for-growth strategy from Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Are the hawks being too short-sighted? Have the doves underestimated the scale of the fiscal challenge ahead?  And if the short term financial picture is dire, is the longer-term picture even more calamitous?

So who will win this new economic war?  Hawks or doves?

JOIN THE DEBATE – as Mark and IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop are interviewed by Media Manager Emily Carver – LIVE at 6pm

Join in the debate – LIVE at 6 – here or on YouTube.