By: Paul Ormerod

Paul Ormerod is an economist at Volterra Partners LLP, author and an Honorary Professor at the Alliance Business School at the University of Manchester

All 201 Articles

Strikes are a part of the bargaining process but many current jobs are on their way out

September 14, 2022

Strikes are a reasonable tool for workers to use, but for declining industries, they would be wise to focus on negotiation.
How Truss pays for her plan for energy prices is just as important as what she does

September 7, 2022

Our new prime minister already has a long list of detractors. Yet something many are failing to take notice of is how well she grasps the fundamental importance of generating economic growth. This is the central issue facing the economy and it will determine how, ultimately, we pay for an intervention in the energy market. [...]
Our scientists were given responsibility in the pandemic but no public accountability

August 31, 2022

LAST week, Rishi Sunak rehashed old wounds and stirred up more controversy over lockdowns during the height of the pandemic. The former Chancellor now says scientists were given too much power, where policy choices should have rested with those elected policy makers known as our leaders. Unlike most other government policies, there was little cost-benefit [...]
Spiralling energy prices are a powerful lesson for our future plans for green power

August 24, 2022

For most politicians and commentators, green taxes are firmly established as an unequivocally Good Thing. True, Liz Truss has called for green levies to be temporarily halted to help drive down energy bills. But even if the next prime minister does intervene, once world energy prices start to fall substantially, she would be under enormous [...]
Britain’s waistline won’t be slimmed by sugar taxes – they could even make it worse

August 3, 2022

Britain has an obesity problem – and it’s getting worse. According to a report from the King’s Fund think tank, the proportion of obesity in deprived areas is 37 per cent, up from 32 per cent three years ago. Theresa May’s government tried to curb obesity with the “soft drinks industry levy” in 2018 – [...]
As we look back on pandemic mistakes, we need to count livelihoods in our losses

July 27, 2022

MINISTERS don’t need to face the inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic until next spring, the chair of the probe, Heather Hallet, announced this week. As part of its mandate, the inquiry will “listen to and consider carefully” the experiences of those who lost family members or “have suffered hardship or loss” as a result of [...]
It’s hot, sure but we don’t need the health bureaucrats to tell us to open the windows

July 20, 2022

Phew, What A Scorcha! No, not a tabloid headline from this week, but from 1976. As many have pointed out already, in that distant summer Britain experienced a prolonged heatwave. The temperature was over 30 degrees for several weeks, without respite. We survived without the hysteria of the Met Office or the pronouncements of the [...]
Politicians and voters must learn that every policy has a cost and an impact on growth

July 13, 2022

The runners and riders battling for leadership of the Conservative Party are setting out their stalls. Tax, lockdown, defence and Brexit are all key issues which have been raised. On some of these, at least, there are marked differences between the candidates. But there is an elephant in the room: how to raise the underlying [...]
Universities follow perverse incentive models out of touch with the labour market

July 6, 2022

THE days tick by to the summer ritual of the announcement of A-level results. Yet panic is already spreading among those wanting to start university in the autumn. The number of applicants has risen by 5 per cent this year, according to the university admissions service (UCAS). In addition, many universities are cutting back the [...]
Central banks have fooled themselves into thinking they have power over inflation

June 29, 2022

If we look under the bonnet of central banks, we find a debate which is almost theological in its nature.

Union bosses call for another workers’ rights push amid Labour turmoil

The real Guinness Six Nations showdown is happening in the pub

How South Wales became one of the UK’s most exciting food destinations

By: Paul Ormerod

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