They had expected a hard-hitting attack on Labour's financial profligacy, with at least some details of Tory spending plans and fiscal proposals.

ECONOMIST: On the up

The public sector is riddled with overspending, wasteful practices and financial irregularities and profligacy.

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There is a lot of talk about fiscal discipline within the euro zone, not least because financial markets are punishing Europe's peripheral economies for their profligacy.

ECONOMIST: The world economy

Debt in these countries has become a burden not because of government profligacy but because each enjoyed a decade of low interest rates and was then hit by the financial crisis.

ECONOMIST: The causes

Sadly, much of her excellent work was destroyed under the Tony Blair government when chancellor Gordon Brown's profligacy wrecked the public finances and his ill-advised changes to banking supervision severely damaged the financial system.

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