SBP editorial: Budget must play safe and prepare for future

A budget is a well-rehearsed, familiar kind of theatre. It is preceded by pre-budget leaks, its centrepiece is a Dáil speech, and it is followed by miles of news pages with analysis of what it means for cardboard cutouts of the various household types and income brackets that are affected. In previous years it has been keenly anticipated for a variety of reasons. In the pre-crash era it was a Roman theatre of ...