Sajid Javid’s spending review isn’t a ‘panic measure’ – it’s part of a global move to exploit low interest rates

The chancellor will likely use the availability and low cost of investment funds to back an array of modest projects, most of which will be far more helpful for the economy than it seems

Sajid Javid asked for a 12-month spending round instead of a longer-term exercise in a bid to 'clear the ground ahead of Brexit' (PA)

Austerity is over. Whenever governments suddenly start spending a lot more money you know there will be an election coming up. And so it will be this Wednesday when Sajid Javid, the chancellor, is scheduled to announce a spending review for the next financial year. As we outlined here, there is likely to be a string of popular spending measures, and also some indications of tax changes to take effect next spring.

So this will essentially also be a preview of the Budget scheduled for November – assuming, that is, that the government is still in power and Mr Javid is still in the job then.

That is one way of seeing things and there is nothing wrong with that. Electioneering is not going away. But there is another perspective: what is happening in the UK is part of a move right across the developed world towards looser fiscal policy.