As The coalition government drew up its detailed plans to cut public spending last autumn, in order to deal with Britain's swollen budget deficit, the economic backdrop was unexpectedly propitious. The recovery that had started in late 2009 gathered momentum as gdp expanded by li% in the second quarter of 2010 and by 0.7% in the third. Unemployment was falling and consumer-price inflation, though exceeding the official 2% target, was only a bit above 3%. George Osborne, the government's axe-wielder-in-chief (see next story), appeared to be a lucky chancellor.
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