Remember Prudence? The darling of Gordon Brown is back in vogue as the Budget nears despite news that there is apparently no longer any need for a new round of tax increases and spending cutbacks next year.
There has been deep concern at Government level that expectations were raised a little too high over the summer months, with a succession of Ministers making hopeful noises about tax reductions and possibly even pay increases.
Predictably perhaps, “prudence” has become the new watchword, as demonstrated by Ministers going into the Cabinet meeting this morning.
Tánaiste Joan Burton, chairing today in the absence of Taoiseach Enda Kenny, reached back to the bank guarantee to declare the country in the best pre-budget position in six years.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin was pleased to announce that for the first time since he was appointed to his current role he was not seeking significant cuts in expenditure from colleagues' departments.
But all this positivity was tempered with a sombre note of caution.
"Careful and prudent" decisions had to be taken ahead of Budget Day, Ms Burton said. Mr Howlin's offering was similar: "The next set of decisions are going to be prudent."
The shift in emphasis from the sunny pronouncements of July and August has been striking as the autumn political season belatedly gets underway.
Yet, the concern for the public remains that Government politicians appear to be in conflict with a growing number of organisations with economic expertise over the shape of the upcoming budget.
The European Commission, the Central Bank, the IMF, the ESRI, the OECD, and the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council are all urging the Coalition to proceed with another tough budget next month.
Politicians and economists rarely sing from the same hymn sheet. The politician, always with an eye to votes, has to be seen to offer a smidgeon of hope, while the dismal economists can be as pessimistic as they like because they do not have to worry about getting re-elected (or indeed elected in the first place).
For all the talk about disconnecting the budget from the electoral cycle, this is a conflict that is likely to remain unresolved.
