This report is the first in a series on the size and shape of the state, and how the public finances can be better managed in an era of low growth and high uncertainty. It diagnoses how Britain fell into its seemingly endless fiscal funk and sets out a playbook for escaping it. With a new Prime Minister and Chancellor about to take up residence in Downing Street, it is clear they will inherit a country stuck in a financial rut. Public debt has nearly tripled since the financial crisis, taxes are heading to an 80-year high, and Budget preparations are dominated by doom-laden speculation about further belt-tightening and tax rises against a backdrop of volatile financial markets.