The price of the growth agenda of more social housing and infrastructure is uncharted. Among the ideas is making more use of the ‘PuFins’ (Public Financial Institutions) such as the National Wealth Fund and National Housing Bank. It is inexplicable why anyone should think devoting more resources to social housing and infrastructure will be self-funding. Capacity constraints, a lethargic planning system and the great spending vacuum that is HS2 mean that more spending is futile. Radical spending reductions of the kind Denis Healey had to adopt in 1976 are the only sustainable answer, not more borrowing.