Economists Spar Over Whether U.K. Should Lift Tax to Tackle Debt

Fiscal policy experts clashed over whether Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak should raise taxes to tackle the U.K.’s ballooning debt pile in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our tax take is significantly below the rate of many other countries” in northern and Western Europe, Institute for Fiscal Studies Director Paul Johnson told the House of Commons Treasury Committee on Tuesday. “That does implicate that it is possible to run a pretty effective and efficient economy with a higher tax burden than the U.K. currently has.”

Johnson was backed up by two other panelists at the hearing, Institute for ...