How to be prosperous: We need a revival of the values crucial to capitalism June 4, 2014 COULD the forces that determine individual prosperity also determine national success? I’m increasingly convinced that five influences explain the wealth and wellbeing of people and countries: honesty, vitality, freedom, responsibility, and institutions. Traditionally, prosperity research has focused on long-term growth, looking at the role of physical and human capital, and productivity. Over the past decade, [...]
Recall stitch-up: The coalition doesn’t trust voters to discipline their MPs June 4, 2014 AMID all the speculation over who will win the Newark by-election today, it’s easy to forget the reason half of Westminster is running around the Nottinghamshire constituency: the behaviour of its former MP. Caught in a sting in May 2013, when he then resigned the Conservative whip, Patrick Mercer left Parliament in April 2014. But [...]
Letters to the Editor – 04/06 – The end of cash, Best of Twitter June 3, 2014 The end of cash [Re: Could Britain soon be a cashless society? yesterday] We are definitely moving towards becoming a cashless society, although it will take some time to get there. With non-cash payments predicted to overtake cash in 2015, it is extremely likely that, in 10 to 15 years, a significant proportion of the [...]
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 [...]