No turning back: Four reasons Osborne’s Budget matters March 19, 2014 FOUR key things strike me about the 2014 Budget. First, George Osborne stuck to his plan. Osborne’s Budgets will be remembered for two things: slow, steady, drawn-out spending cuts, bearing down gradually upon the government’s huge deficit; and a large rise in the income tax personal allowance. Both aspects were reflected in yesterday’s Budget speech. [...]
Why Osborne should now axe tax relief on pensions March 19, 2014 WHEN you have no money, and you need to conserve cash for a rabbit out of the hat in the run up to the election, what do you do? The chancellor’s answer: focus the Budget on pension reform and Isas saving incentives. That’s all fine and dandy, but it’s a missed opportunity. The chancellor reached [...]
Why Britain will have to wait for growth-boosting tax reform March 19, 2014 THIS year may be “as good as it gets” for the growth of the British economy, according to the latest OBR forecasts released in yesterday’s Budget. GDP growth is projected to be 2.7 per cent in 2014, but is then expected to be around 2.5 per cent over the next four years. This subdued growth [...]
Letters to the Editor – 19/03 – Baffling economics, Ukraine crisis, Best of Twitter March 18, 2014 Baffling economics [Re: Economics baffles half the population, Monday] So 48 per cent of UK adults say they understand how the economy works. This seems high, given the management of the economy in the run-up to the Great Recession. Surely, the Treasury and the FSA would have done a better job if even 48 per [...]
ACCA Comment: Corporation tax is due for a revamp March 18, 2014 Company taxation in its current form is looking out of date BUDGET fever has truly taken hold when even global super-group One Direction starts calling on the chancellor to do something about corporation tax. Last week, the boy band asked its millions of fans to “bombard” George Osborne with emails, urging him to crack down [...]
Why an independent Venice should adopt Dogecoin March 18, 2014 On Friday, polls will close as Venetians vote on the issue of independence. Opinion polls suggest that locals are in favour of a future Republic of Veneto, but a successful yes result will not be legally binding. Crucially, if Venice does ever become fully independent, it will have to make a decision on the matter [...]
Forget energy companies: Blame the regulator for distorting competition March 18, 2014 OFGEM, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will shortly issue an assessment of how well competition in the markets for gas and electricity is serving the interests of households and small firms. But as I argue in the March/April 2014 edition of the European Competition Journal, Ofgem’s regulatory [...]
Inequality myth-busting: Why the UK doesn’t have to answer to Sweden March 18, 2014 CONCERN about inequalities of income and wealth is now a fashionable topic, and featured strongly in the gathering of the world’s top brass at Davos earlier this year. Much of the popular coverage of the subject gives the impression that not only is inequality at record highs, but that it is confined to the wicked [...]
Britain’s tax on flying is causing serious economic damage March 18, 2014 IT’S THAT time of the year when the chancellor confirms that Air Passenger Duty (APD) is set to rise once again, ensuring that passengers flying from London’s airports will pay the highest departure tax of any country in the world. After the publication late last year of the Airports Commission’s interim findings, debate has rightly [...]
Letters to the Editor – 18/03 – No clothes Cameron, Best of Twitter March 17, 2014 No clothes Cameron [Re: Cameron sets out his agenda for EU reform, yesterday] David Cameron’s EU plan will be a stillbirth, if it ever reaches the delivery room. Powers cannot flow away from a German-driven, Frenchbacked, ever closer union, which suits weaker member states. Qualified majority voting is increasingly the norm, and there is little [...]