Half-price meals sound a good deal but they waste public money and do nothing to allay fears about catching coronavirus
Among the commandments of economics is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. But how about one that’s half price? Starting this week, that’s the deal Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is offering the public: eat in at a restaurant between Monday and Wednesday and enjoy 50% off every meal, up to a maximum of £10 each. The cheesily titled “eat out to help out” scheme is intended to get a coronavirus-ravaged country used to the notion of dining out once again, and to keep a fast-sinking hospitality industry afloat. As politics, it has the rare dual advantage of being novel and easy to understand. As policy, however, it is glib, gimmicky and, even Mr Sunak admits, a waste of millions of pounds. Junk, then, served up by a politician who should know much better.
Treasury officials recoil from “picking winners” and bailing out individual sectors, yet after the 2008 crisis they threw billions at the banks. This time the hospitality sector is receiving emergency treatment. They certainly need it. The day after Mr Sunak launched his new scheme, Pizza Express announced that it is to shut up to 70 of its outlets and shed up to 1,100 workers. More than half – 56% – of all workers in the restaurant and hotel industry are furloughed, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, while over one in three companies only have enough cash in reserve to last until early October.
Continue reading...