I helped write the manifesto — and now our skills agenda is more important than ever With Britain now facing economic challenges that were inconceivable just a few months ago, it’s worth reflecting on some of the ideas we will need to spur economic recovery in today’s very different world — including from the manifesto we wrote before the December 2019 election. I remember vividly that collective sense of elation as [...]
Could the Eurozone soon see a wave of anti-austerity rebellion? Adam Memon, head of economic research at the Centre for Policy Studies, says Yes. In Greece, a disastrous combination of sheer incompetence and an inability to grasp the severity of the Eurozone crisis has meant that Syriza, a party of the hard-Left, could soon form a new government. Syriza’s economic programme, which calls for a [...]
Why predictions of rapid real wage growth are likely to be proved wrong IN 2014, the UK economy is likely to have grown by over 3 per cent, employment growth has been remarkably strong, some progress has been made on reducing the deficit, and inflation remains low and stable, despite yesterday’s slight uptick to 1.3 per cent on the consumer price index (CPI). But of all the statistics [...]
Labour’s misdiagnosis: A larger state is not the way to raise living standards September 23, 2014 To paraphrase the economist John Maynard Keynes, Ed Miliband’s speech yesterday to the Labour Party conference was an extraordinary example of how, starting with a mistake, a remorseless logician can end in Bedlam. For Miliband, the market has failed to deliver rising prosperity, and it is now time for big government to get back in [...]
England is right to shake off its complacency about a disastrous Scottish Yes September 8, 2014 IT’S A sad fact of modern life that, while divorce can be painful, the financial devastation that follows in its wake can be far more serious and long-lived. The effect of Scotland walking away from the rest of the United Kingdom would be no exception. However, some in England have argued that we should welcome [...]
Lib Dem reversal on the bedroom tax should worry welfare reform supporters July 17, 2014 The Lib Dems announced yesterday that they are heavily watering down their support for the “bedroom tax” – or more accurately, the Under-Occupancy Charge. The policy cuts housing benefit payments by 14 per cent for households with one spare bedroom, and by 25 per cent for those with two or more. Perhaps the most controversial [...]
