The austerity myth: Why the government is counting on unrealistic growth October 29, 2012 REGULAR readers of this column will be familiar with the theme of a paper I’ve just published. Called In Search of Austerity, and published by the Mercatus Center, part of George Mason University in the US, it probes the idea that there is far less austerity going on than people think. It’s a controversial topic. [...]
A radical proposal for privatising the UK’s road network October 29, 2012 GOVERNMENTS have used motorists as a cash cow for decades. Fuel duty and road tax raise around £35bn a year, while less than £10bn is spent on road maintenance and improvements. As motoring taxes have increased, investment in new road capacity has collapsed. Transport policy has gradually become dominated by an agenda that seeks to [...]
Will a merger between Penguin and Random House better place the firm to tackle Amazon? October 29, 2012 YES Lizzie Carr The merger of Penguin and Random House is ultimately about the survival of the fittest. Publishing is going through revolutionary changes, and this merger shows just how much some brands will need to adapt to survive in today’s marketplace. Given the size of the two companies, there are some obvious cost-savings the [...]
Rapid responses October 29, 2012 Tax nightmare [Re: How income tax has become such a nightmare for so many, yesterday] The main problem with Britain’s income tax system is that government gets larger with every tax rise. It’s about time we tried doing things the other way round. Jeremy Poynton Whatever problems our tax system causes, Labour would do nothing [...]
Cost is key in the coalition’s brave decision to fire up nuclear energy October 28, 2012 IN 1956, the Queen flicked a switch and Britain’s first nuclear generated electricity surged into homes from the Magnox reactor at Calder Hall. This was the world’s first large-scale nuclear power station. A decade later, several Magnox stations were producing power, but investment in new electricity generating capacity was still insufficient. In the winter of [...]
The City must do more to support London’s young people into employment October 28, 2012 YOUNG people are the lifeblood of London, like any great city. They bring the ideas, innovation, and enthusiasm needed to drive our economy forward. Consequently, one of the most damaging legacies of the recent recession has been the growing number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neets). In the capital alone, there [...]
UK ministers are failing to support business tourism October 28, 2012 DAVID Cameron recently said that, in the global battle to win jobs and contracts, he believes in leading from the front. It’s fighting talk but, when it comes to winning work for our major export businesses, Cameron and his ministerial troops are regularly absent without leave. Tourism, and that includes business tourism, is a vital [...]
As the US presidential election nears, would a Mitt Romney victory be good for markets? October 28, 2012 YES Nancy Curtin A Mitt Romney victory would be a positive step for markets, given his opposition to capital gains tax increases, his support for immediate corporation tax cuts, and his business friendly, supply-side approach. We need to move away from a scenario where the government picks winners and losers in the corporate world, to [...]
Rapid responses October 28, 2012 Freedom to offend [Re: The public order act needs reform: It is an insult to free speech, Thursday] David Davis is right. If we’re going to fully adhere to this joke of a law, there’ll be more prisons in Britain than there are houses. People need to accept that they will sometimes be insulted. I, [...]
The Eurozone is doomed to unwind without radical liberalising reforms October 25, 2012 WHEN the euro was formed, the economic debate was marked by a paradox. Liberal economists on the continent were enthusiastic – they believed the euro’s adoption would force reforms on the EU. Free market economists in the UK were more pessimistic. They feared that economic shocks would result in complete social dislocation, due to inflexible [...]