IT’S BATTEN DOWN the hatches time. Budget 2013 is being formulated and we’re all being warned that belts already at their last notch will need to be tightened.

Should the State consider putting up posters like this one? It was one of many similar posted in England during the London Blitz, warning householders to not overspend in a time of rationing. The inflationary prices and self-interest of the ‘Squanderbug’ (complete with predatory swastika markings) had no place in the WWII-time communal effort.

Image: AP Photo/Press Association Images

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