Complacent monetary policy has driven an inflation crisis, not businesses’ price hikes Chris Snowdon Inflation hit 5.4 per cent in December, its highest level since 1992. It is widely expected to reach seven per cent in the next few months – it has already reached that level in the US. There are several reasons why inflation has raised its ugly head again. Demand for gas and oil has outstripped [...]
Behind the slippery slope mystery: intervention will always justify more Chris Snowdon I don’t think this is a big step or a slippery slope, Dominic Raab said on Tuesday when asked about the introduction of Covid-19 passes. This will come as news to the people of Italy, New Zealand and several other countries where normal life is now impossible without proof of two jabs. In Austria, the [...]
Sin taxes on smoking and sugar harm the people they’re supposed to help Tax or fine? According to an economic study published last month, 90 per cent of all “sin taxes” on tobacco, alcohol and soft drinks in the US are paid by just 20 per cent of households. Eighty per cent of the taxes are paid by just ten per cent of households. This tax burden tends to fall disproportionately [...]
To see the vaccine in action, we need to stop counting Covid deaths October 15, 2021 In the late 1940s, Austin Bradford Hill and Richard Doll began interviewing hundreds of hospital patients, half of whom had lung cancer while the other half had various other diseases. Their research, published in 1950, showed that 99.7 per cent of the male lung cancer patients had a history of smoking. Out of 649 patients, [...]
From Scotland, with love: indulgent drink driving laws get us nowhere September 16, 2021 In December 2014, Scotland introduced a new policy modifying its drink-drive limit, to reduce the number of alcohol-fuelled traffic accidents. The legal limit was slashed from 80 to 50mg per 100ml of blood. Now, seven years later, a study published in the Journal of Health Economics has looked at the impact of the policy. The [...]
The World Health Organisation’s war on vaping is a lesson in terrible risk management August 19, 2021 Pfizer has been having problems with its stop-smoking drug varenicline, known as Chantix in the USA and as Champix in the UK. It has had to recall batches of the drug because it contains quantities of a carcinogen that exceed the Food and Drink Administration’s safe level. The FDA isn’t enforcing the recall, however. Instead, [...]
DEBATE: Should NHS staff be given a pay rise? November 11, 2020 Anthony Johnson, a nurse and an organiser with Nurses United, says YES. The Covid crisis has shown like never before just how central the NHS is to everyone’s wellbeing and safety. From our cleaners to our GPs, the entire team is essential. And if we don’t pay people fairly, they will be forced to find [...]
As government plays down its threat to abolish the House of Lords over Article 50, is it time for it to go anyway? February 10, 2017 Chris Snowdon, director of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, says Yes. There was a time when the House of Lords defended our ancient liberties against mendacious governments. The whole idea of unelected politicians is problematic. In a perfect world, we would have democracy and liberty but, if I may speak candidly, so [...]
