The “goldilocks” economy under Gordon Brown as chancellor – neither too hot nor too cold – can now be seen as an unsustainable boom followed by a big bust, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Robert Chote, IFS director, found that the boom was only just shy of the Nigel Lawson boom of the 1980s and the Anthony Barber boom of the 1970s. His calculation used last week’s Budget forecasts and the government’s long-standing method of assessing booms and busts.