Rapid Responses August 28, 2012 Vaguely taxing [RE: Taxation shouldn’t be determined by subjective opinions of fairness, Tuesday] It is interesting that recent developments in political circles have redefined the basis upon which tax policy is to be developed. A poorly thought-out policy will cause more harm than good. In the case of the mansion tax, it is a double [...]
Taxation shouldn’t be determined by subjective opinions of fairness August 27, 2012 THE Treasury’s latest consultation – Ensuring the Fair Taxation of UK Residential Property Transactions – has just closed. We responded to it, and disagreed not only with the substance of the policies, but also the way in which the consultation was framed around the vaguest of concepts: “fairness”. The main proposal is for a graduated [...]
Misinformed public remain confused by the debt and deficit August 27, 2012 THE coalition’s plans for the public finances seem doomed to fail. Both parties came into office pledging to eliminate the current structural deficit in five years, and for the debt-to-GDP ratio to be falling by the end of the Parliament. In effect, this meant faster deficit reduction than the Labour party had outlined under Gordon [...]
It’s open season for football’s economic analogies and the sky’s the limit August 27, 2012 EVEN though I’m an Everton fan, I’m enjoying the start of the new Premier league season. Part of the optimism is the latest round of television money that offers a lifeline to clubs that are financially perilous. This season, the Premier League made £3bn selling the rights to screen matches, a surprise 71 per cent [...]
Are new landmark skyscrapers destroying the City of London’s traditional character? August 27, 2012 YES Robert Adam The City of London has lost the intimacy of its streets and lanes. Planners have traded it away for the blank facades of huge monoliths crashing into the pavement, apparently mitigated by wind-blown plazas. Towers and offices with large floor plates are seen as an essential for the City as a global [...]
Rapid responses August 27, 2012 Unprepared youth [Re: Rigour in GCSE’s is essential but we need students fit for business, Thursday] Our nation’s future depends upon our willingness to create new educational partnerships, raising academic expectations of all children and providing them with skills. Our research on skills and future jobs shows that between 2007 and 2010 an average of [...]
The NHS must look outwards if it’s to become the envy of the world August 23, 2012 THE coalition has identified the NHS as the UK’s next big export. We have some form here: internationally renowned brands like the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, Moorfields Eye Hospital and Great Ormond Street have foreign campuses in the Middle East – with similar tie-ins to some of our leading universities. And this outward-looking approach [...]
Life isn’t short: But we’ve learnt to squander our time like spendthrifts August 23, 2012 SUMMER’S lease is drawing to a close again. With less than a month until the autumnal equinox on 22 September, we’re running out of time to complain about the disappointing weather or attempt to cook burgers in one another’s backyards. Or, from another point of view, there’s four weeks left before the summer of 2012 [...]
New infrastructure cannot dig us from our economic hole August 23, 2012 BAD borrowing figures have increased the pressure on the government to change its course, abandon austerity and crank up new public infrastructure projects. Indeed, with a cabinet reshuffle expected in the next few weeks, a number of people have been saying that David Cameron should shuffle his chancellor, George Osborne, off to the backbenches. Neither [...]
As SSE raises its energy prices by 9 per cent, is the firm right to blame UK green policies? August 23, 2012 YES Matthew Sinclair So long as the government sticks to radical EU targets for the energy sector – particularly for a drastic increase in the use of renewable energy – domestic and industrial consumers will continue to face punishing increases in prices. Attempts to reassure investors with expensive commitments like the carbon price floor will [...]