The musical My Fair Lady features a song entitled "Why Can't a Woman be More like a Man?" Business people watching Alistair Darling's first Budget next week will feel similar sentiments, which could be summed up rather less catchily as "Why Can't the Public Sector be More Like the Private?"

Economic commentators insist that Mr Darling has little room for budgetary manoeuvre. Raising tax and national indebtedness would make him unpopular. So would reneging on spending commitments. Yet to business people, the solution is blindingly obvious: become more efficient. That is what they do when budgets are tight.