Jim Power: The best way to eat an elephant is in small pieces

There is an old Chinese proverb to the effect that the best way to eat an elephant is in small pieces. This analogy should equally be applied to budgetary policy, writes Jim Power

The Minister for Finance delivered a modest budget package that ended up making the majority of people slightly better off, but nobody significantly better off. One farm leader described it as a budget that was “an inch deep and a mile wide”.

I wish I had thought of that one. It describes exactly the budget strategy, but that should have come as no surprise to anybody, given the constraints and challenges facing the Minister.