Why Britain’s housing crisis risks turning into catastrophe June 3, 2014 THE HOUSING crisis – worst in London, but bad across Britain – is fundamentally driven by lack of supply. For the past five years, we have been building fewer houses than in any peacetime period since before World War One. But house building has been on a downwards trend since the 1960s. Reasonable estimates suggest [...]
Measuring vice: Why our creative national accountants mostly get it right June 3, 2014 THE OFFICE for National Statistics (ONS) has just increased the size of the British economy by nearly £10bn, a figure equivalent to around 0.7 per cent of its total size. George Osborne has not waved a magic wand, and we have not suddenly become more productive. The reason is that, for the first time, estimates [...]
Letters to the Editor – 03/06 – Britain’s new MEPs, Google and Europe, Best of Twitter June 2, 2014 Britain’s new MEPs [Re: Britain’s new MEPs must do their job – whatever they think about the EU, yesterday] Mark Boleat asserts that “constituents voted [MEPs] in to engage in Europe”. How does he know what voters were thinking? It’s not true in my case, for example, because I have zero faith in any of [...]
The state is in crisis – but free marketeers are losing the battle for reform June 2, 2014 DO YOU ever feel government isn’t fit for purpose? The evidence suggests you’re not alone. The EU elections saw anti-establishment parties tear chunks out of mainstream incumbents. In the US, Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party have shown the degree of discontent from left and right, expressed in partisan gridlock in DC. Some on [...]
The undemocratic EU experiment that could push Britain to the exit June 2, 2014 IN THE upset of the European elections, anti-establishment parties swept up over 30 per cent of all seats in a damning indictment of the EU status quo. The case for a slimmed-down Europe a la Cameron, with more say for national parliaments, could not be stronger. But just when the wind should be in David [...]
The biggest story since the end of the Cold War: China’s new anti-West axis June 1, 2014 IN THE words of the great stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius, “The object of life is not to be in the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” By this definition, the greater number of foreign policy analysts ought to be speedily locked up, as they have so underrated the seismic [...]
City Matters: Britain’s new MEPs must do their job – whatever they think about the EU June 1, 2014 THE EUROPEAN elections saw a series of striking results, as Ukip became the first party other than Labour or the Conservatives to top a nationwide poll since 1906, and anti-establishment parties surged across Europe. Pundits have spent days discussing the results and what Ukip’s rise means for the established parties and their leaders. But while [...]
Why Europe’s right to be forgotten online will be an expensive mistake June 1, 2014 GOOGLE has taken the first steps towards complying with the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) ruling that people have a right to have links removed from search results. But debate around the “right to be forgotten” online is not going away. Some have praised the ECJ for empowering individuals to have more control over their [...]
Letters to the Editor – 02/06 – Drugonomics, Taxing times, Best of Twitter June 1, 2014 Drugonomics [Re: Vice adds around £10bn to the UK economy, Friday] That drugs constitute such a sizeable chunk of economic activity is a reminder of the potential gains to be had from legalisation. At around £1bn for powder cocaine, £828m for cannabis, and over £4.4bn for all illegal drugs combined, these estimates give an idea [...]
City & Gild: Cutting back on brands won’t help firms grow May 30, 2014 It was a sad day for many when the news reported that the West Cornwall Pasty Company was about to go under last month; anyone who has said yes to “one for the road” has undoubtedly stood trackside gobbling down the unctuous beer sponge that is a pasty. Stodgy, trusted and just what you need [...]