The tax avoidance rule that favours cronyism March 6, 2012 WHAT may you do without being punished by the state? With 25,000 pages of new legislation every year, and many laws expressed in hopelessly vague language, no one can be sure. But there is a more straightforward reason we cannot know what will land us in trouble. The authorities might punish us even though we [...]
RAPID RESPONSES March 6, 2012 Welfare despair [Re: War on Britain’s aspirational classes, yesterday] Britain is a welfare state where politicians build their careers stifling initiative, encouraging (or at least accepting) widespread benefit fraud and cutting traditional support networks like families and friendly societies. Why work in such a set-up? Changing this mindset would let us live fulfilled lives. I [...]
At home and abroad, we all need to be reminded of the moral virtues of capitalism March 5, 2012 I LOVE free market capitalism. The reason is simple: I hate famine, disease, misery, and oppression. I’m on a tour around the world to promote the liberating power of free-market capitalism. I’ve edited a book on the subject, The Morality of Capitalism, which is coming out in at least 16 languages. Last week I was [...]
Putting the UK in the black may be risky for Labour March 5, 2012 AN INTERESTING and important debate on fiscal policy is taking place on the left. It’s been described as “In the black Labour” and has been debated on the progressive website Policy Network. It’s about whether Labour should partly abandon its Keynesianism and go “fiscally conservative”. Its hardest advocates are sometimes called old Blairites, but the [...]
Fuel duty makes little sense as a carbon tax March 5, 2012 TOMORROW is National FairFuel Day, when people will lobby MPs to reduce duty on fuel. It’s a tricky issue for economists. Fuel duty demonstrates the standard economic response to a situation where social costs exceed private costs. If the price of a gallon of petrol fails to reflect the total cost of consuming such a [...]
RAPID RESPONSES March 5, 2012 National interest [Re: Taxing homes more isn’t the answer, yesterday] If we have to sell the land from under our feet, let’s at least extract the maximum possible price from those willing to buy it. We haven’t exhausted the ability or desire of foreign nationals to pay for UK property. Not to extract the maximum price [...]
The rigour and discipline of classics foster the skills for success in business and life March 4, 2012 WHEN education ministers talk about the skills that business needs, their main focus usually seems to be vocational, especially the so-called Stem subjects: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Obviously, these are absolutely crucial, but the implication is that non-vocational subjects do not count. But all businesses need people with different skills to manage, develop, finance [...]
Insurance firms need regulators to pay attention March 4, 2012 PRUDENTIAL’S threat to quit the UK and move its headquarters to Asia isn’t a hollow one. There is a growing feeling in the City that British insurers are getting a raw deal from Solvency II, the new capital requirements that will soon govern the sector. There is wide acknowledgement that the UK regulator, the Financial [...]
The City wants strong partnerships to thrive March 4, 2012 THIS Thursday marks one of the major events in the City calendar, the Trade and Industry dinner – an important opportunity to celebrate and fortify the core relationships between the City and the wider economy. Now more than ever we need to strengthen our partnerships. We need a sense of cohesion if we want to [...]
RAPID RESPONSES March 4, 2012 Infernal devices [Re: All tax rates are too high, Friday] I don’t understand why so many people think the government knows how to invest our money. If they did, they would be in business not politics; or would at least have more experience of running a successful business. But every year policy-makers look busy by [...]