Ministers must not take growth for granted David Cameron and George Osborne want to make 2014 all about the economy, and it is easy to see why. This year is set to be the best since the financial crisis: one global forecast suggests that Britain may even become the second-most-successful economy in the West (after the United States) over the next 15 years. Particularly good news is that higher wages are predicted: a survey conducted for the Confederation of British Industry has found that 42 per cent of firms expect pay rises in line with inflation in 2014, the best result since 2009. The politics of this plan are obvious. Time and again, Labour insisted that the Government had the wrong economic strategy. On almost every indicator, the Coalition has been vindicated. There is clearly hope in No 10 that a successful economy will overshadow memories of controversial policies, such as gay marriage or green levies, and help the Conservatives to win a majority in 2015. If so, however, the party's strategists need to proceed with caution. Polls still show that Mr Cameron will have a tough fight on his hands against a Labour Party that is effective at exploiting concerns about living standards. And the Prime Minister himself has described the economic recovery as "fragile." To maintain the momentum, the Government must stick to its plan for sound fiscal management, not least by avoiding ambitious state-backed giveaways that encourage distortions in the economy. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, has warned that rising house prices in the South put Britain at risk of "repeating the mistakes of Gordon Brown." The surge may well be encouraged by the second phase of the Government's Help to Buy plan, which guarantees up to 15 per cent of new mortgages worth less than £600,000. It is a worthy and traditionally Tory goal to foster a property-owning democracy. But it would be foolish to do so in such a way that imperils the rest of the economy. Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, promises caution. As well he might - during his time in Canada, his easy-money policies helped to create what Deutsche Bank judges to be the world's most overvalued housing market. One way to deflate any bubble before it bursts - and to help hard-pressed savers - would be to consider an increase in interest rates, should the economy be robust enough and unemployment low enough. It is also time for the Government to consider more aggressive action on spending and taxes. The NHS and foreign aid remain ring-fenced, even though the vast amounts we spend in both areas have not necessarily guaranteed improvements in delivery. And the Prime Minister should see through his hinted ambition to cut the top rate of income tax from 45 per cent to 40 per cent - especially since the earlier reduction from 50 per cent actually resulted in a net increase in revenue. As with similarly effective cuts to corporation tax, it was a useful reminder that tax cuts can pay for themselves. There is more to do, however. The burden on enterprise remains too high: some retailers report that rates now make up more of their outgoings than rent. And the middle classes deserve help, too: one of the peculiarities of Mr Osborne's approach is that while the lowest and highest paid have received some relief, the great majority in the middle are overlooked. If those voters had more money in their pockets, they would spend more and the recovery would gather pace - creating a better context in which to fight the next election. Above all, the Tory leader needs to ram home the case for ambitious but sound conservative economics: both for his party and for the country. Labour cannot be allowed to paint sensible savings and effective tax cuts as some Right-wing conspiracy to help "the rich." Instead, Mr Cameron must drum the message home that letting Ed Miliband and Ed Balls back into power would undo all of this government's good work. One only has to look to France to see the damage that a lurch to the Left could do.