For the past week, the Treasury has been accused of cynical expediency, redrafting its fiscal framework as it was about to break its rules to avoid raising taxes. This view is clearly consistent with the evidence and it would be naive to reject it.

But there is another way of looking at the same facts. Perhaps officials have been given the green light to take their fingers out of their ears and stop shouting, “la, la, la, la, la ... I can’t hear you”, when outsiders suggest improvements to fiscal policy.