A delicate balancing act

It was a dirty job, but Brian Cowen had to do it. After the hoopla of the last six months, no matter what the minister put into his maiden budget nothing would satisfy the pundits and the opposition. In the end, Cowen chose a healthy dose of continuity with his predecessor.

He did not allow political agendas to dictate a sharp rise in public spending at the cost of reckless deficit financing. In ...