Confronting the Robots December 13, 2018 Professor Peter Fleming, formerly of Cass Business School, wrote an article for Demos Quarterly which argued that the age of automation is unlikely to lead to a utopian world of play, but doesn't necessarily mean a proliferation of rubbish jobs. You can read the article in full here. Dr Simone Stumpf, Senior Lecturer in the Department of [...]
Mayday: PM delays crucial parliament vote on her Brexit deal December 10, 2018 Theresa May has confirmed a highly-anticipated vote on her Brexit deal will be delayed, following threats of a huge rebellion from within the Conservative Party. The Prime Minister confirmed the delay in the House of Commons this afternoon, saying she believed she could still win a vote after winning further reassurance on the Irish backstop. [...]
Transport secretary Chris Grayling could have done more to avert May timetable chaos, say MPs December 4, 2018 Transport secretary Chris Grayling should have been "more proactive" in averting the crisis that unfolded from the timetable upgrade in May, MPs have said. The Transport Select Committee said it was "not reasonable" of Grayling to "absolve himself of all responsibility" in the May timetable change, which resulted in widespread cancellations, delays and overcrowding. The committee [...]
Macron feels the heat as protests ramp up December 2, 2018 When Emmanuel Macron landed in Paris after the G20 summit in Argentina his motorcade delivered him straight to the Arc de Triomphe, where he was confronted with a vivid depiction of the anger felt by many of his citizens – and of his own place in this crisis. One of the country's most famous monuments [...]
Prosperity is the key to solving the migration crisis – and that starts with security November 29, 2018 Here’s some very good news: global prosperity is at its highest level ever. The Legatum Prosperity Index tracks 149 countries, and the 2018 results out this week see prosperity continuing to rise across the world, both over the last year and over the last 11 years. More countries are becoming prosperous and more people are living [...]
Like southern Europe, Britain’s stagnant regions are stuck in a monetary union trap November 28, 2018 The Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence created a bit of a stir at the end of last week with its estimates of growth in the regions of the UK. Since the recovery from the financial crisis began during 2009, London’s economy has grown by 26 per cent. At the other end of the scale, output [...]
Breaking up is hard to do, so why not put a ring on audit? November 23, 2018 Never have there been more eyes on audit. Sir John Kingman is examining the Financial Reporting Council and how audit can best be regulated. The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating competition and choice in the listed audit market. The BEIS Select Committee announced last week that it too will scrutinise audit, and the Audit [...]
Fix the housing crisis and save the high street at the same time November 15, 2018 Two "crises" have dominated the headlines in the last year. The first is the pressure on housing, the challenges of the rental market, and the soaring cost of living, especially in big cities. The second is the so-called “death of the high street”, as shopping habits change and the retail sector struggles to keep up. [...]
DEBATE: With calls to ban milkshakes, is an obsession with ‘public health’ harmful to our personal wellbeing? November 14, 2018 With calls to ban milkshakes, is an obsession with ‘public health’ harmful to our personal wellbeing? Daniel Pryor, head of programmes at the Adam Smith Institute, says YES. Should we ban sugar, spice, and all things nice? The lobby group Action On Sugar thinks so. Its advocates aren’t content to simply jail purveyors of so-called “freakshakes” [...]
DEBATE: Should Hammond keep the Tory promise and increase the higher-rate tax threshold to £50,000? October 29, 2018 Should Philip Hammond keep the Tory promise and increase the higher-rate tax threshold to £50,000? Ben Ramanauskas, researcher at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, says YES. People earning £45,000 (the current threshold) can no longer be considered wealthy, particularly considering the high cost of living in our major cities. There is a housing crisis in the UK, [...]