The real story on high pay – how manipulated statistics misled the national debate February 15, 2012 IT’S much more satisfying shopping the heads of our major corporations than providing unbiased facts about what’s really happening. Now an independent High Pay Centre promises to deliver the “high quality research that this area of debate badly needs”. Deborah Hargreaves, its director, may find that challenging. When chairing the High Pay Commission in 2011 [...]
I’m not waiting for graduation to find recruits February 15, 2012 YESTERDAY’S unemployment figures show that over 1m 16-24 year olds are still unemployed. With university fees rising and continued uncertainty in the global economy, how are we going to be able to help our young people enter the workforce and begin their careers in meaningful roles? I believe there is a simple solution companies can [...]
Santorum’s surge will be tested by past sins February 15, 2012 EXACTLY a year ago, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels called on Republicans running in 2012 to agree to a truce on social issues and focus instead on the economy. Daniels earned some criticism for this plea, but one voice in particular was vocal in its dissent. For Rick Santorum, social and economic issues are one and [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 15, 2012 Logic-chopping Jamie Whyte’s view that you shouldn’t make yourself worth more dead than alive [Donating organs could prove a costly decision, yesterday] is wise, but I disagree it applies in the case of organ donation by default. Irrespective of arguments that the resulting increase in organ supply would make the value of your organs significantly [...]
Why we should speak out against moves to curtail the UK’s freedom of speech February 14, 2012 DAWN raids by police on the homes of reporters are not something we expect to happen in the UK. But that’s what happened last weekend, when the Metropolitan police sent teams of up to 10 officers to the homes of senior Sun journalists. Reactions were mixed. Brian Cathcart of the Hacked Off campaign, which has [...]
We need radical reforms to raise NHS productivity February 14, 2012 EVERY now and then academic disputes break out into the mainstream. In an article for The Lancet medical journal, Professor Nick Black claims it’s a myth that NHS productivity has fallen over the last decade. Productivity (what we put in against what we get out) may not actually be down 0.4 per cent a year [...]
Donating organs could prove a costly decision February 14, 2012 NEVER make yourself worth more dead than alive. This was the sage advice my father gave me as a boy and I have stuck to it ever since. That is why my life insurance pays out less if I die than the net present value of my likely future earnings. I trust my wife, but [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 14, 2012 Account for waste It’s impossible to disagree with Anthony J. Evans’ article [A nation of tax cheats changed by new rules, yesterday]. The Greeks largely got into a pickle because their attitude was that paying tax was for wimps. However, one of the deterrents to paying taxes is waste by government. When we see pictures [...]
Freeing Abu Qatada showed that Europe is the new judge of Britain’s national security February 13, 2012 THE release on bail yesterday of the terror suspect Abu Qatada has generated headlines around the world. Once described by a Spanish judge as “Bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe”, Qatada is wanted in a host of countries on serious charges. Our own courts and Home Office regard him as a direct threat to our [...]
The Greek riots have unmasked its tragic future February 13, 2012 THERE is a sense of malaise in Brussels after the terrible riots in Greece over the weekend. Their growing ferocity and frequency mean that EU politicians dismiss them at their own peril. In fact, this could be a glimpse into Greece’s future. Assume everything goes to plan and the Eurozone manages to muddle through; by [...]