It’s time to end the cruel delusion of cheap money and reckless spending | City A.M. December 4, 2013 GEORGE Osborne will present his Autumn Statement to a country in the grip of a cruel economic delusion, perpetrated against the poor and the aspirational. Welfare states everywhere are spending chronically beyond their means while papering over the cracks with easy money. Budget 2013 forecast spending in excess of receipts of about £9bn a month. [...]
Taxes and pension contributions are squeezing workers’ pay December 2, 2013 IT WAS meant to be one of the most basic rules of economics: the more people produce, the more they get paid. It is a long-standing, near-universal relationship that helps to explain why some jobs are so much more lucrative than others. But in recent years many have argued that the link has broken down, [...]
It’s time to end the cruel delusion of cheap money and reckless spending December 2, 2013 GEORGE Osborne will present his Autumn Statement to a country in the grip of a cruel economic delusion, perpetrated against the poor and the aspirational. Welfare states everywhere are spending chronically beyond their means while papering over the cracks with easy money. Budget 2013 forecast spending in excess of receipts of about £9bn a month. [...]
Against the Grain: It’s time to fight the claim that consumer choice doesn’t improve public services November 5, 2013 DO CHOICE and competition between suppliers improve the quality of outcomes for consumers? The answer may seem so obvious to City A.M. readers that it’s hardly worth asking. But a powerful strand of political opinion is building up to an attack on the concept. The new Labour shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said last week [...]
Northwest is hotspot for home repossessions while South prospers November 1, 2013 There were 33 per cent more home repossessions in the North than in the South for the year to July, according to research by e.surv chartered surveyors. The group examined court-ordered repossessions per 1,000 households over the 12 months to July and found there were 3.2 repossessions per 1,000 households in the North, compared to [...]
The Royal Charter press deal will have a chilling effect on UK journalism October 30, 2013 IS THIS the end of 300 years of press freedom? Yesterday, the Privy Council – a cabal of government ministers – asked the Queen to rubber-stamp its plans to underpin a new press regulator by statute and Royal Charter. This marks the first imposition of state-backed press regulation in Britain since the despotic system of [...]
Almost a third of Londoners in poverty according to think tank October 14, 2013 Almost one third of Londoners are living in poverty, according to new research conducted by the New Policy Institute. The study shows that 28 per cent of all Londoners are living in poverty, seven percentage points above the national average. The survey commissioned by Trust for London uses the official definition of poverty, a household [...]
US debt ceiling division may be the harbinger of greater crises to come October 10, 2013 AS THE government shutdown has metastasised into a crisis about the US debt ceiling, a dark narrative has been playing endlessly inside my head. For the social and political divisions that have been revealed over these past few weeks may well be harbingers of greater crises ahead. To understand why, we need only look back [...]
US debt ceiling division may be the harbinger of greater crises to come October 9, 2013 AS THE government shutdown has metastasised into a crisis about the US debt ceiling, a dark narrative has been playing endlessly inside my head. For the social and political divisions that have been revealed over these past few weeks may well be harbingers of greater crises ahead. To understand why, we need only look back [...]
Letters to the Editor – 23/09 – Future of gaming, Care robots, Best of Twitter September 22, 2013 Future of gaming [Re: Computer games have grown up – and they’re an economic powerhouse, Friday] This is an excellent article. While George Osborne goes on about the march of the makers, the gaming industry shows exactly what Britain can do if creativity is allowed to combine with technical and scientific know-how. I even think [...]