How the cuts will change Britain | Bill Bryson interview | Silvio Berlusconi’s last stand

Weekly Online Newsletter 21 October 2010 Home Editor's Choice Features Regulars Arts & Books Blogs Subscribe   Editor's Choice IN THIS WEEK'S NEW STATESMAN... In this week's New Statesman we look at the dangerous consequences of the dramatic spending cuts announced by George Osborne. In our lead essay, Robert Skidelsky, the biographer of John Maynard Keynes, warns that the coalition's fiscal retrenchment will lead to a fall in growth and that, with interest rates already at record lows, Osborne has limited room for manoeuvre. Elsewhere, our economics columnist David Blanchflower, writes that the Chancellor has taken the biggest economic gamble in living memory and warns of a possible double-dip recession. Meanwhile, the politics column, Mehdi Hasan notes that our millionaire ministers will largely be untouched by the cuts they are introducing. Is this a Cabinet guided by the national interest or vested interests? Also this week, in an open letter to Vince Cable, Peter Kellner urges the Business Secretary to push ahead with new anti-smoking laws, Bill Bryson gives us his thoughts on the Tea Party and Peter Popham profiles Silvio Berlusconi as the Italian leader fights for his political life. The issue is on sale now, or you can subscribe through the website. Get a FREE copy of Dennis Kavanagh and Philip Cowley's The British General Election of 2010 when you start your annual subscription today for just £82. The five most read blogs How the Spending Review hit the poorest hardest | George Eaton Let's not be mawkish about Maggie | Laurie Penny A U-turn on reversing the surveillance state | Alex Deane For the right, the cuts aren't big enough | George Eaton Investment in education is key to reducing the deficit | Sally Hunt and Michael Burke Features Weekly Briefing Regulars Leader: Feel the pain as Osborne swings his axe The Britain that emerges from the cuts will be profoundly changed: more unequal and less confident. The cuts, student fees and New York Will the Spending Review bring a new era of lost jobs and broken-down buses? Also, Lord Browne' universities review, City bankers and Sarah Palin's "death panels". Arts & Culture The Arbor (15) By Ryan Gilbey Ryan Gilbey experiences the turbulent family life of a working-class playwright. The Genius of British Art By Rachel Cooke Mr Jacobson is a seductive and idiosyncratic art critic.     This Week's Issue Kindly note that if you receive this e-mail your e-mail address is being held by us for the purpose of communicating with you on New Statesman related matters. If you do not wish us to e-mail you, please unsubscribe from this list. New Statesman Limited is a Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. © New Statesman Ltd. 2009. The above information may be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient of this email please destroy it. As Internet communications are not secure please note that the New Statesman does not accept legal responsibility for the content of this email message.