Amidst fears that the proposed increase in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will deter entrepreneurs and middle-class families from investing, and what with the Daily Telegraph running an anti-CGT campaign, Work and Pensions Secretary, Ian Duncan-Smith has said that the chancellor is taking account of public concern. He said that “major exemptions” are likely to be included to help “take the sting” out of the proposals.

Meanwhile, a group of twelve businesses and economists has written to the Sunday Telegraph strongly encouraging the government to look again at the CGT rise, arguing that it is tantamount to a “tax on growth, enterprise and jobs,” thereby discouraging savings and investments.

“In addition, it may cause all this damage and yet raise no revenue, as some investors take expensive avoidance measures and others hold on to their assets in order to delay paying the tax,” the letter added.

Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem energy and climate change secretary, disagreed, and cautioned against making concessions. In an interview with the Sunday Times, he argued that critics of the CGT proposals lacked “an awareness of the constraints that we’re facing and the sense of competing priorities”. He went further and criticised opponents for focussing on a single issue without being aware of the larger economic issues the government is facing.

We all have our personal credit score, based on the record of the way we handle our borrowing. The same applies to countries, and the news is that Spain’s is the latest casualty of the debt crisis afflicting the eurozone. Spain had already lost its coveted ‘triple A’ rating from one of the agencies who decide these things, and now another, Fitch, has followed suit.

The credit downgrade is a signal that the bond markets, through which governments borrow the cash they need to meet their commitments, are right to have less confidence than they once did in Spain’s ability to pay its debts. And it also means that investors could demand higher rates of interest for taking on Spanish debt in future – which makes borrowing more expensive. But we shouldn’t get carried away. Spain’s rating is still, at AA+, pretty high.

The Spanish government has been battling to introduce a package of austerity measures, including £12.7 billion worth of cuts to reduce its enormous budget deficit . This at 11.2% of its national income is comparable to Britain’s. The credit agency thinks that making the cuts will be difficult because of political factors, not least the independence enjoyed by Spain’s regions. The trouble is that painful austerity measures could also damage Spain’s growth prospects, and a less prosperous country, like an individual who misses out on a pay rise, will find it harder to pay its debts. This is a common pattern. Indebted governments want to reassure the markets that they’re serious about deficit reduction. But by putting a squeeze on economic activity, they risk losing the tax revenues they also need to avoid yet more borrowing.