Housing bubble threat underscores pressing need to revise Help to Buy August 13, 2013 HELP to Buy has been widely criticised by experts, academics and journalists as a dangerous policy. In the long term, in a supply constrained system, simply increasing lending does not build a single extra house. And due to the planning system’s failures, we have an incredibly supply constrained system. From 2000 to 2007 lending doubled, [...]
Against the Grain: We should prescribe zero hours contracts for the Monetary Policy Committee August 13, 2013 THE NEW governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said last week that interest rates will not be raised until unemployment falls below 7 per cent, a process he thinks will take three years. The battle of Austerlitz in 1805 was one of Napoleon’s greatest victories, leading to his complete domination of Continental Europe. [...]
Manufacturing sector’s untapped potential can lift us out of recession August 13, 2013 THE government claimed a “march of the makers” would drive Britain out of recession. Fast-forward a few years, and it might just be becoming a reality. Figures last week showed UK manufacturing is on the up – rising at its highest pace since the end of 2010. Overall output rose by 1.9 per cent in [...]
Letters to the editor – 14/13 – Fracking safety, Silicon Roundabout, Best of Twitter August 13, 2013 Fracking safety [Re: Is David Cameron right to say the UK is missing out by not exploiting shale reserves? Monday] David Morris MP’s comments are to be welcomed. To say that fracking is dangerous is unfounded. It can be carried out sensibly and carefully by skilled engineers. Consider this: in some towns and cities in [...]
Don’t blame immigration policy for the problems in our labour market August 12, 2013 TWO years ago, as the recovery stalled, a number of commentators suggested that the main problem with the UK economy was too much “red tape” preventing employers creating jobs. In response, the government commissioned a report from Adrian Beecroft on labour market regulation. It was deservedly mocked for ignoring the evidence – and, in particular, [...]
The Bank’s low interest rates will block our path to sustainable recovery August 12, 2013 THE Bank of England wants to secure sustainable growth and reduce unemployment by promising to keep rates near zero for three more years. Its new “forward guidance” commits to maintain rates at current emergency levels, even in the face of economic growth and above-target inflation. The success of this strategy depends on encouraging more lending [...]
Why we must not write off coal’s potential to solve our energy crisis August 12, 2013 THE DEBATE over Britain’s abundant shale gas reserves is welcome. It reflects an acknowledgement, at last, by policymakers that energy security and costs are at the top of voters’ priorities, and need to be urgently tackled. The hype about shale gas’s incredible potential is sweeping all before it, but policymakers must not overlook coal – [...]
Letters to the editor – 13/08 – Board quotas, Forward guidance, Best of Twitter August 12, 2013 Board quotas [Re: We must be more meritocratic – but quotas are not the answer, yesterday] The quota plans come at a time when there is an existing organic trend towards greater workplace equality. More females apply to university than males, and 60 per cent of law and medicine students are women. Figures from the [...]
Mark Carney’s policy has amplified political opportunity for the Tories August 11, 2013 NO REAL rock star has ever received such rave reviews for promising to do nothing for three years. But Mark Carney breaks the mould. The new Bank of England governor has pledged to keep interest rates at 0.5 per cent until 2016, unless the economy is threatened by “knockout” conditions. Keeping the taps of cheap [...]
City Matters: London schools are on the up – but we must raise standards even further August 11, 2013 THIS week, teenagers across the country will receive their A-level results, and embark on the next stage of their academic and professional lives. Young Londoners have more reason than most to look forward to this exciting period. Only a couple of decades ago, the capital’s schools were among the worst in the country. Since then, [...]