Why childcare reforms probably won’t get parents back to work Len shackleton Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak are betting big on childcare reforms to boost the economy, but many mothers will still choose to stay at home, writes Len Shackleton.
It would be madness to arm the unions with acquiescence THE continuing rail disputes are understandable given that two years of on-off lockdown have disrupted normal pay settlement processes. But the railways have been massively subsidised by the taxpayer over this period, and cannot expect such largesse to continue. Revenue is down to less than 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels, and patterns of use [...]
Sadiq Khan is wrong — extending the furlough scheme would hinder London’s recovery, not help it Warning of a “looming unemployment crisis”, Sadiq Khan this week made an appeal for a further extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), under which more than a million Londoners have been furloughed. His concern for London jobs is understandable. But it would be wrong to continue the scheme beyond October. Furloughing made sense [...]
Attempts to tackle the ‘problem’ of high pay will end up making everything worse May 10, 2019 The more we learn about what other people earn, the more concern there is about it. Specifically, a political debate is raging over dramatic increases in the pay of chief executives of listed companies. Deemed “unfair” in the widening inequality discussion, pressure is growing from activists and politicians to fix this so-called problem. The latest [...]
DEBATE: Should 18-year-olds be entitled to an extra year of free education after school, as the CBI suggests? March 1, 2019 Should 18-year-olds be entitled to an extra year of free education after school, as the CBI suggests? Matthew Fell, chief UK policy director at the CBI, says YES. As the world of work changes, people need to learn throughout their careers. The best companies help their people evolve through education. Colleges serve firms brilliantly, with tailored [...]
Debate: Given the Tory party’s proposal to ban restaurants from taking a share of staff tips, is regulation necessary? October 2, 2018 Debate: Given the Tory party’s proposal to ban restaurants from taking a share of staff tips, is regulation necessary? YES – Scott Corfe is chief economist at the Social Market Foundation. The rise of the service charge in UK restaurants has led to a great deal of confusion. Often listed as discretionary on bills, many [...]
It’s hubris to believe that we can or should reshape the economy September 6, 2018 On Wednesday, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, fronted the final report of the IPPR’s Commission on Economic Justice. It makes an interesting read, but is otherwise a completely over-the-top attack on current economic policy, with a wishlist of mainly unworkable policies attached. It begins with an examination of everything that the Commission – made [...]
As official figures show a drop in net migration, should we fear a post-Brexit brain drain? February 24, 2017 Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates, says Yes. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a drop in net migration of 49,000 in the 12 months to September 2016 – so including the three months immediately after the Brexit vote. It also highlighted a worrying trend for the British [...]
Well-meaning state interventions are making childcare increasingly unaffordable for many parents February 6, 2017 A couple of weeks ago an all-party Parliamentary Group report warned that many nursery schools may have to close, and called for a financial bailout from our beleaguered government. It was only the latest demand for extra state spending: in the last few months the CBI, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Welsh government, the [...]
As Theresa May prepares to unveil her industrial strategy, is it doomed to fail? January 23, 2017 Len Shackleton, professor of economics at the University of Buckingham, says Yes. Following Mrs May’s flying visit to tell Davos businesspeople what she thinks other people think of them, she now returns to the theme of industrial strategy. Like many before her, today’s Prime Minister thinks government can shift the market in more “balanced” directions. [...]
