Early money was on some sort of cut in pensions tax relief or allowances. The rumour mill was in overdrive, with each side pressing its favourite policies: from the LibDems' mansion tax to the Tories' clarion call for those on welfare to bear the brunt. Some things never change. But what is certain is that, whatever is announced, it will deliver little festive cheer.
I do hope, however, that Osborne will refrain from the language of war that appeared to dominate the CBI conference in London last month.
Prime minister David Cameron said Britain was in the "economic equivalent of war today" and needed the same wartime spirit. Rupert Soames, CEO of power generating business Aggreko, added that running a business today in rich countries was like the battle of the Somme, gaining ground a yard at a time, while in emerging markets "war is much more fluid and replete with opportunity". You could be forgiven for thinking you were sitting in a room filled with grey-haired ageing generals obsessing over battle strategy.
I'm fed up with this negativity. To quote the famous Sun headline of 1992, the message appears to be: "Will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights?" Ironically, that headline heralded a Conservative election victory over Labour's Neil Kinnock. This time it feels as if the Conservative-led coalition is turning off the lights.
We all know our economy is not going back to the glory days of 1992 to mid-2000s. But it feels as if we are managing decline rather than looking forward to future economic prosperity based on a new place in the world for the UK. The language of war does not resonate with the engines - and people - of wealth creation today. Where are innovation, youth, ideas and diversity in that language?
The CBI conference came in a week when some 20,000 jobs were put at risk in the UK, most of which come from the traditional manufacturing and public sectors. These are not the sectors that will pull us back into growth. According to the Work Foundation, those likely to be crucial for growth are: the creative industries; 'manu-services' - where manufacturing is linked into service-based activities, with firms designing physical goods for niche markets and gaining long term revenue streams from maintaining and servicing these products; low carbon industries; and high-tech, high-value-added networked services.
As the Work Foundation adds, most gains in employment from this will be in the cities that already have strengths in these industries. We examine this in our cover feature on the role of location, in particular cities, in today's Britain. This is the first in a series of monthly features on some of the country's cities.
Universities, creative city and regional planning, infrastructure and environments that attract knowledge workers - these are all vital for future growth. For bring in skilled workers and jobs for lesser skilled workers servicing their needs will follow.
The Government needs to move the rhetoric from cuts, austerity and hunkering down for the long battle, to opportunity in an age of enterprise. It needs to rethink its immigration policy and show Britain is open to talent. It needs to stimulate the economy in the right areas.
Without this, all the doom and gloom is self-perpetuating as confidence falters. Without this, we can all look forward to a decade of low productivity growth and stagnating living standards. I don't want that and I am sure you don't either.
At HR magazine we put the spotlight on businesses that are driving the UK's economy forward. We start this in 2013 with a special issue focusing on innovation. I invite you to contact me to share your successes. Together we can show there is a rosy future for UK plc.
