§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his best estimate of the likely long-term rate of growth of the British economy.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettIn the long run the rate of growth of gross domestic product can be expected to be close to the growth of productive potential. The estimated growth of productive potential, subject to a considerable margin of error, is about 3 per cent. per annum.
§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he remains satisfied that the instruction given to the Government Actuary in September, and set out in the Appendix to the White Paper "Proposals for a new Pensions Scheme" (Cmnd. 5713), to assume a long-term rate of economic growth of 3 per cent. per annum is realistic.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettYes, as a long-run working assumption.