The British productivity disease: How to cure it April 16, 2014 THIS week has brought more bright economic news – with falling inflation and unemployment paving the way for rising real wages. Yet while the UK is now the fastest growing developed economy, the productivity of its workforce languishes a fifth below the G7 average. What can be done to cure this British disease? US economist [...]
We’re resetting the energy market to make it simpler and smarter April 16, 2014 WHEN energy consumers open the next bill, letter or email from their supplier, they should notice some major changes. On every energy bill, they will now receive personalised information about the cheapest tariff their supplier can offer. They will also receive an accurate projection of how much they will pay if they stay on their [...]
Putin doesn’t need to invade Ukraine to get what he wants April 16, 2014 THE SIMMERING crisis in Ukraine has just been brought to a boil again. Pushed to the point of no return, the fledgling government in Kiev has at last responded to Russian provocations, for the first time deploying troops, aircraft, and armoured carriers in the east of the country. Kiev has explicitly labelled this an “anti-terrorist [...]
Letters to the Editor – 16/04 – Mansion tax-lite, Housing crisis, Best of Twitter April 15, 2014 Mansion tax-lite [Re: Why the Lib Dems’ new mansion tax-lite is just as ugly, yesterday] Alex Wild makes some excellent points on the unfair mansion tax. It would be nice to hear some intellectual justification from the likes of Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband. We won’t, of course, because there isn’t one. The politics of [...]
How Britain can rebuild welfare with the power of individual contributions April 15, 2014 THE TWO great legacies of post-war socialism were the NHS and the Beveridge system of welfare. Designed for a different world, with a younger population and lower life expectancies, both are seen as politically untouchable, impossible or at least very difficult to reform. Periodic attempts to introduce internal market mechanisms to drive efficiency in the [...]
Want to change behaviour? Try more markets, not more regulation April 15, 2014 ECONOMICS provides us with a really big insight into how the world works: people respond to changes in incentives. A great deal of public policy is based on this principle. Want fewer people to drive into Central London? Introduce a congestion charge and make it more expensive. It works. In practice, of course, estimating exactly [...]
Letters to the Editor – 15/04 – Jobs miracle, Airport debate, Best of Twitter April 14, 2014 Jobs miracle [Re: The recovery is being driven by a revolution in the jobs market, yesterday] Have you considered that the reason for the rise in self-employed consultants is the tax system? With a good accountant, moving from PAYE to self-employment, for effectively the same job, can reduce your liability. I find it increasingly difficult [...]
How the West’s utopians damned Ukraine to Russian dominance April 14, 2014 THERE is little doubt that Ukraine stands perilously on the edge of disaster, if not full invasion, as Russian troops assemble on its borders and pro-Russian activists violently demonstrate in key eastern cities. So why, in response, has the West floundered? There is a critical division between the major western foreign policy schools of thought [...]
Osborne’s quiet revolution is delivering: Tax cuts boost growth April 14, 2014 WITH the “stimulus” versus “austerity” debate having receded, George Osborne likes to talk instead about his “long-term economic plan”. This has been dominated by a commitment to deficit reduction and a strong jobs market. But it’s becoming clear that Osborne wants to add a third string to his bow – the intellectual case for low [...]
Why the Lib Dems’ new mansion tax-lite is just as ugly April 14, 2014 SOME Liberal Democrats seem to have finally conceded that their “mansion tax” pet project is a bad idea. Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has gone off the proposal to levy a 1 per cent charge on the value of properties above £2m, preferring higher council tax bands for expensive properties instead. But given [...]