Rapid Responses August 29, 2012 Swede dreams [RE: Sweden turns the page and Scandinavian noir explains why, Tuesday] It is worth adding that Sweden is also successful because of eight decades of close cooperation between the state, business and unions. Moody’s recently reaffirmed Sweden’s AAA rating and cited not merely its comparatively modest supply-side reforms but also its equal society. Alexander [...]
Why a flair for storytelling is vital if you want others to follow you August 28, 2012 EVERYONE tells stories. It’s one of the ways we connect with our friends and families. It’s how we impress people when we apply for jobs, or sell business products to potential customers. Telling stories is also what we do on Facebook and Twitter, and is even part of how we go about finding a partner. [...]
Exam targets shouldn’t be prioritised at the expense of a decent education August 28, 2012 THE highly emotional debate still raging about GCSE grades is not very enlightening. But what has happened tells us a lot about how incentives matter, and how they affect outcomes. At the same time, it shows us that unless a proper set of social norms is in place, incentives can have unanticipated, perverse effects. In [...]
This government should not try to hinder Heathrow August 28, 2012 AIRPORTS are an umbilical cord for the economy – tourism, inward investment and export opportunities all flow into Britain through them. Any constriction, or lack in capacity, has a harmful effect, limiting our potential for growth. Particularly when we are in the midst of double dip recession, we should be looking to the parts of [...]
Is America’s Republican Party right to be considering a return to the gold standard? August 28, 2012 YES Detlev Schlichter There is simply no alternative to going back to hard and apolitical money. It is the only form of money that is compatible with capitalism. Our present fiat money system is a creation not of markets, but of politics, designed to allow the constant injection of unlimited new money into banks for [...]
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 [...]