The UK government can afford to bring in a new funding system for adult social care and current economic woes should not be an excuse for inaction, says a leading economist. Andrew Dilnot, whose Commission on Funding of Care and Support reported to ministers earlier this year ( BMJ 2011;343:d4261, doi:10.1136/bmj.d4261), said it was “nonsense” to suggest reform was too expensive. How much the country spends—as individuals or collectively through the state—was a matter of choice, not affordability, he told the King’s Fund annual conference in London on 23 November. Mr Dilnot said he …