I read a new Report this morning – Waste Not – that was published by a new unit in Britain called Verdant, which seems to have links to the England and Wales Green Party. The work is interesting and raises several issues that bear on how government fiscal policy should be assessed. The issues I have with the Report were not canvassed by the author to its detriment. It relates to the impact of government spending and the employment effects of cutting expenditure, regardless of whether we classify that expenditure as ‘waste’ or not.