The Eurozone is almost out of options – taxpayers must prepare to take their losses February 7, 2012 OVER the last few weeks, negotiations over a potential write-down of Greece’s debt have taken us here and there, and back again – and at the time of writing, they remain unresolved. But whatever the outcome of the talks between the Greek government and its creditors, let’s not forget the bigger picture – ultimately, the [...]
The EU’s war on planes leaves UK trade grounded February 7, 2012 WE ARE witnessing the opening skirmishes of a trade war between the EU and the rest of the world. This is unnecessary, costly for the European economy, and self-defeating. How did we get here? Under European law, an airline (wherever based) which operates flights that take off or land in the EU must, from next [...]
More laws won’t make markets more efficient February 7, 2012 THE “clean government” bill bans American politicians from using their inside information for personal profit, for example, by trading securities. It passed the Senate last week by a vote of 96 to 3. Which is a pity. Prohibitions on insider trading should not be extended; they should be repealed, not only in America but everywhere. [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 7, 2012 Fair play on funds Regarding the True & Fair campaign [Join our campaign to fight fund managers’ high fees and lack of transparency, last Wednesday]. I’m all in favour of lower fees and more disclosure on costs. When choosing pension funds at the moment investors are told how much future income would be provided under [...]
Britain must become a land of opportunity once more to attract the world’s workers February 6, 2012 COUNTRIES receive the immigrants they deserve. A migrant has 192 countries to choose from. He or she will choose according to his own preferences and reasons. The possibility of economic betterment is the most important: nobody aspires to end up on the breadline. What forms of economic betterment are available will determine what sorts of [...]
We must resist a tax that isn’t FTT for purpose February 6, 2012 AS THE European Parliament held its public hearing on the proposed financial transaction tax (FTT) on Monday, the battle positions were clearly drawn. For the Eurozone, an FTT represents a smallish subsidy to repair damaged national balance sheets; for the UK, the adoption of an FTT would represent a massive drag on the country’s economic [...]
It’s hard to account for flaws in the rule-book February 6, 2012 IT SHOULD be no surprise that socialist economies give the impression of creating more output than capitalist ones. Under socialism you get rewarded based on what you produce – hence an incentive to overstate production. Under capitalism you get taxed based on what you produce – hence an incentive to understate production. These are two [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 6, 2012 Shrinking R&D It is not correct to blame intensified regulation for the pharmaceutical industry’s woes [Regulation has pushed pharma off a cliff-edge, yesterday]. The statistics actually show that per new drug application, the FDA’s record of approving new drugs has stayed more or less unchanged over the past decade. The problem is that research and [...]
Politicians are slaughtering UK finance – the goose that is still laying the golden egg February 5, 2012 OVER recent years British business has withstood many onslaughts with quiet stoicism, but the latest politically inspired witch-hunts against financial leaders seems to have finally broken the camel’s back. The unpalatable truth is that politicians of all parties, in their selfish efforts to bolster their personal election prospects, have delivered a savage wound to business [...]
Regulation has pushed pharma off a cliff edge February 5, 2012 THE latest big pharma company to fall victim to the so-called “patent cliff” is AstraZeneca. Its announcement last week that it’s shedding 7,300 jobs globally is in part an acknowledgement that it does not have sufficient new drugs to replace revenues lost, as a number of its key drugs come off patent. Across the sector, [...]