Then, last week, came a further heavy blow. National Savings and Investments announced that it was slashing the interest rate on its savings products.
So although, in one sense, we are all in this together, we are most certainly not all in it equally.
When he comes to consider the future strategy for government spending and taxation, the Chancellor should bear in mind those who have really suffered during this crisis. They are the strivers and risk-takers and savers of this country. If he clobbers them, the long-term consequences will be adverse for our economic health.
There is already a clear warning of the dangers. In France, opinion polls have revealed that the ambition of a large proportion of talented young people is to work in the public sector. They recognise that this way lies job security, the absence of risk and stress, good pay and a more than decent pension.
What about the ambition of setting up and running your own business? Apparently, that doesn’t have wide appeal. Bearing in mind the relative risks and rewards that the French state has created, this is hardly surprising.
Don’t get me wrong. Every country needs a substantial, efficient and well-rewarded public sector. But there are limits. France reached them some time ago, which is why so many young and entrepreneurial French people fled to Britain.
The Chancellor should make sure that his actions do not create a set of expectations and rewards that impel our young people in the same direction. There is more to life than a public sector pension – or at least there should be.
Roger Bootle is chairman of Capital Economics
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