So now we know. The Chancellor has confirmed that before an economic slowdown, his response will be - to raise taxes on business.
While the US Government is pulling together tax cuts to fend off the coming storms, the British government is promising a tax raid on companies.
He may have made concessions on capital gains tax that will reduce the pain for a large number of small business people, but the changes will still raise £700 million in new revenue.
They will punish many entrepreneurs who built their plans on the assumption that a tax regime introduced by Gordon Brown when he lived at 11 Downing Street would not be reversed directly he moved to Number 10.
The whole, sorry saga over CGT has worrying implications for the economy.
First, it reflects badly on the judgment of the Treasury. Second, it reinforces the impression that the Government finds it difficult to make decisions. Third, and most serious, the inability to do much to correct last October's mistake underlines one inescapable fact - the public finances are in poor shape.
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There have been no real consultations between business and Government about tax over the past few months because the Treasury has no room for manoeuvre.
Public finances should be comfortably in the black but the forecast for 2007-8 is a deficit of £38 billion.
Now the Treasury faces a double whammy. First, the economy is heading for a slowdown. Second, hard times in the City will have an impact on tax revenues.
Sometime in 2009 or 2010, the Government faces a General Election, so there are three things it will be very reluctant to do - cut public spending, raise personal taxes, and put the kibosh on Mr Brown's Golden Rule.
That leaves it with just one obvious option if it needs to plug a hole in public finances - raise business taxes.
The capital gains tax decision suggests that the Chancellor is prepared to do just that. But the question is - who pays business taxes? They do not come from some abstract concept called a business.
Heavy taxes are a burden on employees, consumers, savers and pensioners.
It is handy for politicians to put the squeeze on businesses - they have few votes. But in reality, the consequences are felt by us all.
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